First, I think Decline and Fall is funnier than A Handful of Dust. But the latter is more black in its humor than the former, and black humor seems to be what this list is most about. Zuleika, of course, is funny, and Wodehouse always is. But no Peter De Vries? No S.J. Perelman?
Good list.
ReplyDeleteI saw "Catch-22" was on the list, which is good, but I would also add Richard Hooker's "MASH."
Hooker's book was dark like the Robert Alman film and not like the more light-hearted TV series.
I would also add Joseph Wambaugh's "The Choirboys," which the cop's Catch-22. Forget the film version, it was awful.
I would have added Waugh's "Scoop," which is the best, and funniest book on journalism that I've read.
Lastly, I would have added Waugh's "Black Mischief."