I like to laugh at absurdity though
340599
Probably the funniest book I've ever read. I like to laugh at absurdity though, so others' opinion could vary.
468508
A curious blend of absurdist self-obsession and hack sentences.  I guess this is a serious story yet the slapstick hysteria resembles a keystone-cop chase through LA.  I couldn't help but laugh out loud at the scenes of our hero trying to swill down bottles of alcohol to calm himself down while racing to desperately get to a couples therapy session.  When he gave details regarding flinging his high-end jewelry to the street trying to stop time I considered feeling sorry for him but decided laughter is truly the best medicine.  I hope his boy friend has seen the light and moved on to better pastures.  I know after putting this book down, I did.
4450597
Year Zero is the silliest and probably the funniest book I have ever read. Many books bring a chuckle, but this one had me laughing aloud. But, like the best stories, it also makes a statement; in this case it's the absurdity of the copyright laws of the music industry and the lawyers who gain from it. You'll also find an interesting take on the Windows operating system. If this book isn't sponsored by Macintosh, it should be.

If this doesn't intrigue you enough to read it, then consider the possibilities if the universe could fold back on itself. At a wrinkle beings from a planet light years away if you took the long route could cross in a matter of minutes or hours. This is what allows our hero Nick Carter to meet a wealth of aliens. One race looks like a tennis ball with ten legs, another looks like a vacuum cleaner, and the plurrhs are so boring and insignificant that you have to concentrate very hard when you're talking to one or you'll forget why you're there or even fall asleep with boredom.
The plot is tight and delightfully unpredictable, the physics and special effects fascinating, and the ease with which humanity can be encouraged to destroy itself is a little horrifying. The characters are vibrant and expertly drawn, especially the women.

I recommend anyone who likes absurdity and a good laugh. Think The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy and you get the idea.

Here's the blurb.
Low-level entertainment lawyer Nick Carter thinks it's a prank, not an alien encounter, when a redheaded mullah and a curvaceous nun show up at his office. But Frampton and Carly are highly advanced (if bumbling) extraterrestrials. And boy, do they have news.
The entire cosmos, they tell him, has been hopelessly hooked on humanity's music ever since "Year Zero" (1977 to us), when American pop songs first reached alien ears. This addiction has driven a vast intergalactic society to commit the biggest copyright violation since the Big Bang. The resulting fines and penalties have bankrupted the whole universe. We humans suddenly own everything-and the aliens are not amused.
Nick Carter has just been tapped to clean up this mess before things get ugly, and he's an unlikely galaxy-hopping hero: He's scared of heights. He's also about to be fired. And he happens to have the same name as a Backstreet Boy. But he does know a thing or two about copyright law. And he's packing a couple of other pencil-pushing superpowers that could come in handy.
Soon he's on the run from a sinister parrot and a highly combustible vacuum cleaner. With Carly and Frampton as his guides, Nick now has forty-eight hours to save humanity, while hopefully wowing the hot girl who lives down the hall from him.
1048851
Not that there is indeed someone running around killing annoying consumption-based idiots, but it is awfully fun to think that some people could pay for their bad moral taste.

Cullerton has a fine-honed sense of the absurd (the dinner party guest list alone is worth cracking open the covers), and she's touching on a fundamental flaw in our society in general. Do we really measure worth based upon "things" that we stuff into our houses, or wear on our feet? Are the monsters in her novel, moving their swimming pools (yes, swimming pools) while figuratively Rome burns, truly "victims"? Frankly, I cheered on the anti-heroine as she went about her calling, and the ending was pitch-perfect.

Fingers crossed that Cullerton decides to write a sequel. Surely there is more gold to be mined here.
4258041
I purchased a copy of this book when it was first published and laughed myself silly over and over again...what makes it so funny?  It perfectly captures the absurdity of yearbooks of an era long gone by: group class pictures taken at such a distance as to render the faces tiny specks with names like "Lotta Zits"; pictures of teachers in their classroom situations: the shop teacher smiling widely at the camera next to a student whose face wears a very surprised look because lower down in the picture his fingers have been separated from his hand by the band saw they are ignoring while the picture is taken! The fun goes on and on--a description of the class trip to D.C. wherein the author takes every opportunity to use the adjectives and adverbs based on the school's mascot the kangaroo. And who could forget the mottoes accompanying the Senior Pictures:  the leering face of the school "bad girl" over the phrase "I guess I missed that period!"  I haven't seen this book since I loaned it to a friend in the early 1980's yet the material is fresh in my mind.  Please, please bring the book back into print so that we fans can share it with a new generation.
4601526
This was so awkwardly realistic. I couldn't decide half the time if I wanted to laugh or cry, but laughing definitely occurred.
2398472
I thought it would be funnier, it seems to take itself too seriously.
3288168
Haven't read Hiassen in a long time.  I seldom laugh out loud while reading, but I've been chuckling since chapter one.  His satire is as biting as his wit which are good covers for his deadly serious condemnations of certain practices.  If you know Hiassen, you know what I mean.  If you don't, pick up a few and get started.
4151145
I won this book as part of a Goodreads First Reads giveaway.

I entered to win this book because although I am horrified by the idea that Trump could ever become President, I did like that there was a political satire being written about his possible presidency and I always like a good laugh. I have to say, as I was reading it, I did find myself wondering if any of the things written could be something he would actually do, because with Trump, it wouldn't surprise me. The book is very small, more like a short story, and is filled with absurdity (let's hope) and humor. Although I wouldn't say I laughed out loud throughout the whole thing and did find some of it scary (see the 'wondering if he would actually do these things' above) I did think it was an enjoyable book and recommend it for anyone who is as appalled by this man as I am.
4353471
This brightens my day in so many ways. I can absolutely see everything actually happening as written in this book, while my jaw drops in only partially feigned horror that people are behaving in this manner...until the gut-busting laughter takes over. Thankfully, our author gives us a humorous and highly entertaining peek into his interesting neighbors. I mean, we've all had them at some point in our lives....but were yours ever this farcical? A great read!
923451
But I suppose it still could be fun if you can suspend your disbelief and you like this sort of farce.
2348305
This book has me both laughing and pondering. If you've ever wondered about something improbable, it may have an answer in this book, but I'm not done reading it yet, only on chapter 4.
2281281
I like the concept of phrases rather than just words. I have to admit that some of the phrases actually make me blush, and then when I think about it, I just laugh.
1988476
Written to be funny, I now find it a little too true for comfort.
1397786
As stated you can get this cheaper at[...](199) but it is great and it always makes me laugh when I go to get a shot because it is so ridiculous.
471753
Einar and Trixie are unusual and odd. The kind of odd that leads to head scratching and staring, mouth agape, but also the kind of odd that leaves a person transfixed.  This is a comedic look, albeit darkly comedic, at a microcosmic society that, with little effort, translates to modern society.  I laughed out loud at the absurd characters, but alternately, was saddened by the way we treat the odd ones of our world.  Don't misunderstand, The Rise of the Einix is NOT a preachy book, kind of hard to be preachy with transgendered puppet masters (literally), but it is well worth the read.  Enjoy!

Ms. Miller will there be more? Please! Please! Please!
2655238
This book may seem a little like it is being told from the point of view of a man-child with severe ADHD but that is actually part of its quirky charm. I laughed even at the most asinine things that our dearly befuddled Car Johnson had to recount. Anything that amuses me all the way through deserves three stars in my book. :)