DailyLit: Humor Books

The Underachiever's Manifesto

by Ray Bennett

Description

The Underachiever's Manifesto—Lower the bar. Turn it down a notch. Get off the Stairmaster. The Underachiever's Manifesto is the playfully persuasive pocket guide to living life to the least and loving it. With sharp humor and genuine wisdom, this welcome little book extols the fabulous benefits of underachievement in our overextended society. A witty introduction makes the case for the right amount of effort—a lot less than we've been led to believe. Ten principles of underachievement establish the basics (#8: The tallest blade of grass is the surest to be cut); and practical applications show how mediocrity is the key to happiness at work, in relationships, dieting, exercise, investment, and more. Devilishly enlisting examples from philosophy, economics, science, and good common sense, The Underachiever's Manifesto is a lighthearted, life-changing rallying call for those who dare to do less and enjoy more.

Extended Copyright Information

No part of this book may be reproduced in any form without written permission from the publisher.

Previously published by Chronicle Books.

Sample Installment

How to Lose Friends and Alienate People

by Toby Young

Description

In 1995 high-flying British journalist Toby Young left London for New York to become a contributing editor at Vanity Fair. Other Brits had taken Manhattan—Alistair Cooke, Tina Brown, Anna Wintour—so why couldn't he? But things didn't quite go according to plan. Within the space of two years he was fired from Vanity Fair, banned from the most fashionable bar in the city, and couldn't get a date for love or money. Even the local AA group wanted nothing to do with him. How to Lose Friends and Alienate People is Toby Young's hilarious and best-selling account of the five years he spent looking for love in all the wrong places and steadily working his way down the New York food chain, from glossy magazine editor to crash-test dummy for interactive sex toys. A seditious attack on the culture of celebrity from inside the belly of the beast, How to Lose Friends and Alienate People is also a "nastily funny read" (USA Today).

Praise for How to Lose Friends and Alienate People

"F Troop meets the A list . . . Young . . . recounts his experience with wit, a flair for comedy, self deprecation and a goodish bit of sociological insight on the side."
—Wall Street Journal

"Hilarious lifestyles of the rich and shameless . . . Young is a self deprecating Tom Wolfe."
—People

"[Young's] sharp humor, fluid style and inside dish make his tale a gossipy confection . . ."
—San Francisco Chronicle

"A very funny book."
—Salon.com

"A Hot Book for Summer . . . a gimlet-eyed insider's account of the status-obsessed, celebrity-beholden glossy magazine mafia."
—GQ

"A nastily funny read. . . . [Young's] failure to blend in with Manhattan's unique panache and success-driven mentality brings a heaping dose of humor to this memoir."
—USA Today

"For those not 'feeling it' at their current jobs, Young's book is better than Paxil."
—Women's Wear Daily

"A scandalous memoir by a former Vanity Fair editor about the magazine industry and the warped New York scene."
—Us Weekly

"A cringingly funny memoir."
—U.S. News and World Report

"Full of amusing dish on the media world."
—Village Voice

"An entertaining look into the peculiar world of one of New York's glossiest magazines."
—Boston Globe

"Delicious."
—Elle.com

"A scathing portrait of the egomaniacal world of New York media and an insightful look at modern American celebrity culture."
—Booklist

"Energetic and engaging . . . [provides] enjoyable bitchy specifics of Conde Nast culture."
—Kirkus

"Carries a startling ring of truth. . . . a slashing insider's view of Vanity Fair."
—Publishers Weekly

Extended Copyright Information

No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted, in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or otherwise, without the prior written permission of the publisher. Printed in the United States of America.

Previously published by Da Capo Press, a member of the Perseus Books Group.

Cover design by Cooley Design Lab.

Sample Installment

Tabloid Love

by Bridget Harrison

Description

Dubbed one of the summer's hottest beach reads by People, Glamour, Cosmo, and the Weekend "Today" show, Tabloid Love introduces Bridget Harrison, an almost thirty-year-old Brit and rookie reporter for the New York Post. While her London friends begin to marry, Bridget chases her dream of becoming a hard-news journalist. But just as she perfects the art of interviewing strangers about ghoulish crimes, she discovers that finding a mate seems impossible in the ultimate singles city. Then Bridget lands her very own Post dating column, and half a million New Yorkers read about her weekly romantic disasters. Whether covering celebrity parties in the Hamptons or struggling to hide her inter-office crush, Bridget retains her humor and humility.

Praise for Tabloid Love

"A delicious treat for a sunny afternoon. Vivid, pacey, and very funny."
—Times (London)

"Harrison is . . . deeply likeable . . . It's hard not to hope that she gets everything she wants: literary stardom, the gorgeous apartment, the equally gorgeous boyfriend—and more."
—People

"[Harrison] is gutsier and funnier than Bridget [Jones] but just as socially and fashionably inept. And she resolves to get to the bottom of why it's so damn difficult to meet a good man in New York, with some truly laugh-out-loud twists."
—Cosmo UK

"A frank, funny memoir of dating in New York."
—Glamour

Extended Copyright Information

Previously published by Da Capo Press, a member of the Perseus Books Group.

Many of the designations used by manufacturers and sellers to distinguish their products are claimed as trademarks. Where those designations appear in this book and Da Capo Press was aware of a trademark claim, those designations have been printed with initial capital letters.

Cover design by Alex Camlin.

Sample Installment

Millions of Women Are Waiting to Meet You

by Sean Thomas

Description

Sean Thomas was single, thirty-seven, and just "a tiny bit desperate" to meet the woman of his dreams, when he was asked by a men’s magazine to try Internet dating. Millions of Women Are Waiting to Meet You tells the painfully funny story of what happened next. A gloriously indiscreet diary of the dates, good and bad, it tells of how Thomas was obliged to look at his past checkered love life and lays bare his answers to questions about his own sexual history, and male sexuality in general: Why are so many men fascinated by lesbians? What was so great about pantyhose? And what was it like to have sex with someone really famous? This book tells the story of many men, and maybe some women, too. It will appeal to any woman who wants to know what men really think about sex and romance, and to any man who has ever taken honest stock of his past and present relationships with the fairer sex.

Praise for Millions of Women are Waiting to Meet You

"I can't remember reading a book that's made me laugh out loud as much as this one. Thomas must be extraordinarily brave to reveal so much about his personal life, and this book truly ups the stakes for the male confessional genre."
—Independent

"Compulsive . . . eye-poppingly candid . . . and also very funny . . . If you've ever wondered why the date you thought you got on with wonderfully never called, you need to read this book."
—India Knight, Times (London)

"A disarmingly frank stagger 'across the disco floor of life'"
—Evening Standard

"Bridget Jones meets Men Behaving Badly."
—Spectator

Extended Copyright Information

Permission for lyric extract from "Oliver" TK.

Previously published by Bloomsbury Publishing and Da Capo Press, a member of the Perseus Books Group.

Cover design by Georgia Liebman and Alex Camlin.
Cover photograph copyright by Buero Monaco/GettyImates.

Sample Installment

The Three-Martini Playdate

by Christie Mellor

Description

Parents were here first! How did the kids suddenly take control? Sure the world has changed from the days when children were supposed to be seen and not heard but things have gotten a little out of hand. What about some quality time for the grownups? Author Christie Mellor's hilarious, personal, refreshing, and actually quite useful advice delightfully rights the balance between parent and child. In dozens of short, wickedly funny chapters, she skewers today's parental absurdities and reminds us how to make child-rearing a kick. With recipes, helpful hints, and illustrations, this high-spirited book is the only book parents will really need and enjoy.

Extended Copyright Information

No part of this book may be reproduced in any form without written permission from the publisher.

Previously published by Chronicle Books.

Sample Installment

1001 Dumbest Things Ever Said

by Edited by Steven D. Price

Description

In celebration of mental lapses and pure idiocy, here is a collection of stupid utterances, unintentional and otherwise, from the worlds of politics, radio, television, newspapers, show business, sports, and literature— and everywhere else people can, and have, put their feet in their mouths.

"Smoking kills. If you're killed, you've lost a very important part of your life."
—Brooke Shields, during an interview to become a spokesperson for a federal anti-smoking campaign

"Outside of the killings, Washington has one of the lowest crime rates in the country."
—Mayor Marion Barry, Washington, D.C.

"Hawaii has always been a very pivotal role in the Pacific. It is in the Pacific. It is a part of the United States that is an island that is right here."
—former Vice President Dan Quayle

"Nobody in football should be called a genius. A genius is a guy like Norman Einstein."
—Joe Theismann, former NFL football quarterback and sports analyst

Extended Copyright Information

No part of this book may be reproduced or transmitted in any form by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying and recording, or by any information storage and retrieval system, except as may be expressly permitted in writing from The Globe Pequot Press.

Previously published by The Lyons Press, an imprint of The Globe Pequot Press.

Cover design by Lana Mullen.

Sample Installment

The Man with Two Left Feet and Other Stories

by P. G. Wodehouse

Sample Installment

Right Ho, Jeeves

by P. G. Wodehouse

Sample Installment

Three Men and a Maid

by P. G. Wodehouse

Sample Installment

Jill the Reckless

by P. G. Wodehouse

Sample Installment