Dark humor novels?

[that_evening]

I have been looking for a few dark humor novels. I am interested in ones dealing with twisted (totally out there/unrealistic is fine with me) and/or morbid plot lines but told in an amusing manner. What can I say? It is the state of mind I'm in right now. ;) What do you recommend?

Comments

[greatloyalty]

Catch-22? It has its amusing parts, but is actually very haunting.

[flavordav]

C-22 may not appear so "dark" anymore, at least by contrast with, say, the daily news from Iraq, but caught the film again late last night, really want to reread the novel now. There was a sequel as well, but ... but may well exemplify the concept in Am Lit nonetheless, at elast for the past couple/three generations

[flavordav]

.. oh, and Bret Easton Ellis's American Psycho. Though that's perhaps not so much dark a s bright blood red ...

[size_too_small]

American Psycho is the funniest book I ever read, I would recommend it to anyone who likes dark humor. The Rules of Attraction is very good as well.

[gruyere]

Choke by Chuck Palahniuk. One of the funniest (and sickest) books I've ever read.

[what_a_kick]

Seconded.

[herslashme]

Thirded.

[herslashme]

Actually I'd say you should check out most of Palahniuk's books.

[staaacey]

The Loved One by Evelyn Waugh is dark and humorous. I just finished it and loved it.

[flavordav]

The movie is great as well ...

[attentionpandas]

Magic for Beginners by Kelly Link might be exactly what you're looking for, except that it's a collection of short stories, not a novel. she mixes up the surreal, horror, fantasy/the supernatural in a darkly funny, quirky way. the weirdness/twistedness kinda worms its way in, so it doesn't even really hit you until later. it's really hard to describe, so just check it out for yourself on amazon.

[belle_minceur]

that sounds really good, im going to take a look

[meganensign]

I know a lot of memoirs that I would call "dark comedies." Augusten Burroughs - Running With Scissors, David Sedaris - Naked (I would consider Naked to be his darkest work, and that's probably why it's my favorite), Sean Wilsey - Oh the Glory of It All.

David Sedaris' book of short fiction and essays, Barrel Fever, has some pretty dark and hilarious moments too. Like the story about the dad who performs DIY medical procedures upon his daughter, or the one about the mother who murders her daughter's crack baby and blames it on her husband's illegitimate Vietnamese daughter who comes to stay with them... It's pretty fantastic.