Just for Laughs

Have you ever submitted a caption to The New Yorker Cartoon Caption Contest? Come on, admit it. If you have, you’re not alone. Thousands of people enter this popular contest each week. In his new memoir, How About Never--Is Never Good for You?, Bob Mankoff, cartoon editor of The New Yorker, offers tips to beat the odds. 
 
Mark Twain once said: “Explaining humor is a lot like dissecting a frog, you learn a lot in the process, but in the end you kill it.”  Not in the case of How About Never.  I laughed all the way through Mankoff's book about humor and the history of cartooning. Best of all, Mankoff's book is lushly illustrated with cartoons from--you guessed it--The New Yorker.  Look for it on the new shelf (741.5 MANKOFF).

For something less subtle, but just as fun, try Dave Barry’s latest, You Can Date Boys When You’re Forty: Dave Barry on Parenting and Other Topics He Knows Very Little About.  Actually, this hilarious collection of essays has little to do with parenting, as the author readily admits. He proposes the following alternative titles: Dave Barry’s Vague General Book of Humor Topics; Dave Barry’s Guide to Whatever This Book Is About; Dave Barry:You Probably Thought He Was Dead; and my favorite, Dave Barry: A Dave Barry Book, by Dave Barry.