Best of
Humor

1963

The Dot and the Line: A Romance in Lower Mathematics


Norton Juster - 1963
    But the dot, though perfect in every way, only had eyes for a wild and unkempt squiggle. All of the line's romantic dreams were in vain, until he discovered...angles! Now, with newfound self-expression, he can be anything he wants to be--a square, a triangle, a parallelogram....And that's just the beginning!First published in 1963 and made into an Academy Award-winning animated short film, here is a supremely witty love story with a twist that reveals profound truths about relationships--both human and mathematical--sure to tickle lovers of all ages.

Lafcadio, the Lion Who Shot Back


Shel Silverstein - 1963
    Now celebrating its fiftieth anniversary, Lafcadio is being reissued with a full-color cover featuring vintage art from Shel Silverstein discovered in the archives.Lafcadio, the Lion Who Shot Back is the book that started Shel Silverstein's incomparable career as a bestselling children's book author and illustrator. He is also the creator of picture books such as A Giraffe and a Half, Who Wants a Cheap Rhinoceros?, The Missing Piece, The Missing Piece Meets the Big O, and the perennial favorite The Giving Tree and of classic poetry collections such as Where the Sidewalk Ends, A Light in the Attic, Falling Up, Every Thing On It, Don't Bump the Glump!, and Runny Babbit.And don't miss Runny Babbit Returns, the new bookk from Shel Silverstein!

The Gashlycrumb Tinies


Edward Gorey - 1963
    Gorey tells the tale of 26 children (each representing a letter of the alphabet) and their untimely deaths in rhyming dactylic couplets, accompanied by the author's distinctive black and white illustrations. It is one of Edward Gorey's best-known books, and is the most notorious amongst his roughly half-dozen mock alphabets.[2] It has been described as a "sarcastic rebellion against a view of childhood that is sunny, idyllic, and instructive". The morbid humor of the book comes in part from the mundane ways in which children die, such as falling down the stairs or choking on a peach. Far from illustrating the dramatic and fantastical childhood nightmares, these scenarios instead poke fun at the banal paranoias that come as a part of parenting.

Nervous People and Other Satires


Mikhail Zoshchenko - 1963
    Typical targets of Zoshchenko's satire are the Soviet bureaucracy, crowded conditions in communal apartments, marital infidelities and the rapid turnover in marriage partners, and "the petty-bourgeois mode of life, with its adulterous episodes, lying, and similar nonsense." His devices are farcical complications, satiric understatement, humorous anachronisms, and an ironic contrast between high-flown sentiments and the down-to-earth reality of mercenary instincts.Zoshchenko's sharp and original satire offers a marvelous window on Russian life in the 20s and 30s.

How I Won The War


Patrick Ryan - 1963
    

Grandmother and the Priests


Taylor Caldwell - 1963
    Taylor Caldwell's superb new bestseller about a glamourously wicked widow and eleven extraordinary men of God who told wonderful stories is truly a modern materpiece.

Jeeves & Wooster: The Collected Radio Dramas


P.G. Wodehouse - 1963
    It also features Maurice Denham, Paul Eddington, David Jason, John Le Mesurier, Miriam Margolyes, Jonathan Cecil, Liza Goddard and Patrick Cargill. The Inimitable Jeeves: Aunt Agatha is forcing Bertie to get engaged to the formidable Honoria Glossop. Can Jeeves save the day? The Code of the Woosters: Who would think that a silver cow-creamer could cause so much trouble? Uncle Tom wants it, and Aunt Dahlia is blackmailing Bertie to steal it. Right Ho, Jeeves: Mayhem has broken out at Brinkley Court, but there are more brains in the Wooster household than just Jeeves...Stiff Upper Lip, Jeeves: Poor Bertie! Madeline Bassett and Gussie Fink-Nottle's engagement is on the rocks, and he's next in line for the fair maiden's hand. Jeeves and the Feudal Spirit: When Jeeves returns from his annual shrimping holiday in Bognor Regis, he's in for a few surprises. Jeeves: Joy in the Morning: For Bertie, Steeple Bumphleigh is a village to be avoided as it contains the appalling Aunt Agatha. Still, there are good deeds to be done.

Security is a Thumb and a Blanket


Charles M. Schulz - 1963
    Schulz remains untouched. On every spread there’s a tiny tidbit of wisdom from one of the gang, along with one of Schulz’s irresistible drawings.  It’s a trip down memory lane that every Peanuts fan will cherish.

It All Started with Eve


Richard Armour - 1963
    

The Pooh Perplex


Frederick C. Crews - 1963
    Modeled on the "casebooks" often used in freshman English classes at the time, The Pooh Perplex contains twelve essays written in different critical voices, complete with ridiculous footnotes, tongue-in-cheek "questions and study projects," and hilarious biographical notes on the contributors. This edition contains a new preface by the author that compares literary theory then and now and identifies some of the real-life critics who were spoofed in certain chapters.

The Complete Beyond the Fringe


Alan Bennett - 1963
    

Mixed Marriage The Diary of a Portuguese Bride


Elizabeth Cadell - 1963
    The bride recounts, vividly and hilariously, her and her Mother’s plans for an English country wedding, how they dealt with Uncle George (The Head Of The Family), and their success in making sure that on her wedding day the church was filled with music and flowers (both officially banned due to the “mixed” marriage of a Catholic bridegroom and a Church of England bride). She subsequently finds herself living on a horse-rearing estate in a rural part of Portugal, coping with a truculent cook, a primitive kitchen (no electricity, no gas, no fly screens, no taps — unlike the stables, which were far more up-to-date) and watching a husband gradually turning into a horse before her eyes…. In Lisbon, a four-hour drive away, lived her husband’s parents, his nine brothers and sisters, an unending procession of aunts, uncles and cousins, and a large number of family servants. She recounts the ups and downs of the early months of her married life at Reinaldo, the family property which she struggles to make her own. Iron bedsteads, straw mattresses and numerous pictures of the Holy Family gradually make way for chintz, bookshelves, and comfortable veranda furniture; chicken-with-rice-and-peppers are replaced by duck and lemon meringue, though a new young cook is swiftly appropriated by her mother-in-law, which could be thought of (but not by the writer) as a compliment. Friends and neighbours are also keenly observed in this light-hearted, observant and humorous account of a girl’s path from an English country cottage and a London flat, to love, marriage and motherhood on a traditional country estate in Portugal.

The Sardonic Humor of Ambrose Bierce


Ambrose Bierce - 1963
    Selection includes lampoon of Oscar Wilde; ghoulish horror stories; sarcasm that caused duels, more. Edited by George Barkin.

Mark Twain's San Francisco


Mark Twain - 1963
    Editor Bernard Taper has gathered together a heady selection of newspaper articles, correspondence, poetry, and short stories that are humorous--sometimes exasperating and controversial--but always engaging. Like a good sidekick in a comedy duo, Edward Jump, a contemporary of Twain's, offers through his lively illustrations a visual drum roll to Twain's cantankerous prose. From earthquakes, police scandals, and tantalizing silver mine bonanzas to elegant ladies blowing their noses in "exquisitely modulated tones" and seals "writhing and squirming like exaggerated maggots" below the Cliff House, Mark Twain has left us a vision of San Francisco that is at once fascinating and hilariously familiar.

The Wuggly Ump


Edward Gorey - 1963
    Edward Goreys mordant masterpiece The Wuggly Ump charts the fate of three wholesome children whose happy days weaving chains of flowers are cut short when the mysterious Wuggly Ump hurtles from its den in search of tasty tots.

Retief: Envoy to New Worlds


Keith Laumer - 1963
    The adventures of CDC (Corps Diplomatique Terra) diplomat Jame Retief loom large in six highly classified missions where brain and brawn save land and lives despite red-tape bound superiors amid conspiracy and conflct across alien planets - guaranteed astounding, amazing, startling, galactic, weird, and thrillingly wonderful.1 Protocol2 Sealed Orders3 Cultural Exchange4 Aide Memoire5 Policy6 Palace Revolution

The I Hate to Housekeep Book


Peg Bracken - 1963
    Here is aid and comfort for all who secretly or openly hate housekeeping chores. Among the very useful and funny contents are: "Don't Just Do Something, Sit There", "Stains, Spots, Blots, Scars, and Dueling Wounds", "How to Be Tightfisted without Having It Show", "The Hostess with the Leastest", and "How to Be Happy When You're Miserable". There are hundreds of sensible suggestions on house cleaning, handling of electrical equipment, care of clothes, and entertaining. She even includes hints on household chores that don't need to be done at all, if you're careful. Among the original and practical ideas she offers are the household "clutter deposit"; the Useful Box, Instant Housekeeping. Housekeepers of every variety will find this book as much fun to read as to follow. Included too are more uncomplicated recipes and Hilary Knight's inimitable drawings.

The Elephant Book


Lennie Weinrib - 1963
    A children's joke book about elephants..."their hopes, fears, jokes and psychological problems."

Erasmus With Freckles


John Haase - 1963
    Professor Leaf, an absent-minded poet with a prejudice against the sciences, is forced to face the fact that his son is a math prodigy with little artistic talent of his own.

1800 Riddles, Enigmas and Conundrums


Darwin Alexander Hindman - 1963
    The book contains practically all of the zany riddles that we heard and belabored our friends with when we were children, and many that will be unknown to the reader. It is probably the largest collection of its type.

Jokes and Riddles


Jonathan Peter - 1963
    

An End to Bugling


Edmund G. Love - 1963
    Confederate Maj Gen Jeb Stuart and his cavalry of the Army of Northern Virginia are conducting an operation at Gettysburg, PA in July 0f 1863. Passing through a mysterious cloud they find themselves in Gettysburg, PA in 1963 during the centennial of the Battle of Gettysburg. The soldiers have to deal with modern devices and a new culture (the 20th Century) and a populace unlike anything they've encountered before. All told, an enjoyable read

Holy Bible: The Old Testament


Anonymous - 1963
    Printed by Deseret News Press. No ISBN.The URL is the only web reference I could find with rather exhaustive searching, also where I got the cover image.This edition is hard to find. Contains the King James Version of the Old Testament in larger-than-usual print, prints of paintings, photos of landscapes and buildings dating from Old Testament times, maps, and commentary essays.