this post was submitted on 07 Oct 2023
58 points (98.3% liked)

Books

10375 readers
16 users here now

Book reader community.

founded 4 years ago
MODERATORS
 

My go-to writer in bad times and good times and all the times in between. If you love witty humour, try it. Or start with the TV show with Stephen Fry and Hugh Laurie (although there are so many funny things in those stories that can't be done on screen)

you are viewing a single comment's thread
view the rest of the comments
[โ€“] [email protected] 3 points 1 year ago (1 children)

The Salmon of Doubt was a collection of interviews and short stories with Douglas Adams. In it he's asked his biggest influences and he mentions Richard Dawkins, the evolutionary biologist and writer of The Selfish Gene, which is one of the most influential books I've read in my life which I snagged after seeing that recommendation. He also listed PG Wodehouse as the funniest writer ever and I bought a huge book of collected stories off Amazon and have worked my way through them ever since.

Absolutely hilarious and, like you said, just leaves you coming away glowing.

[โ€“] [email protected] 1 points 1 year ago

Also got turned on to Wodehouse via Salmon. When I started into Psmith after exhausting Bertie & Jeeves, it felt really similar to going from HHGG to Dirk Gently. I often wonder how many Python-era comedy writers were weaned on P.G.