Satire / Black humour

[Tobin]

Hello, I've recently become interested in finding more 'meaningful' literature to read. I've generally read solely for pleasure, but find myself drawn to the idea of mingling pleasure with thought. Most of the novels I've read in the past were generally historical fiction or fantasy fiction. Some books that I recently found very interesting were '1984', 'The Picture of Dorian Gray', 'Fight Club', various Lovecraft short stories and 'The Second Coming'. I know not all of the previous are satire or black comedy, but I really enjoy said genre, especially in film. Some examples: In Bruges, Inglorious Basterds, The Big Lebowski, most of the Monty Python films, Pulp Fiction, American Beauty, One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest, Fight Club etc etc. I also love Bill Hicks and George Carlin. I like entertainment that is both funny and thought provoking. Any modern/postmodern novels that I should start on with the previous films/books/comedians in mind?

Edit: I heard Candide would be an interesting read. Do you recommend it? Keep in mind I'm quite inexperienced with extremely dense literature.

[mortalterror]

423BC Aristophanes writes Clouds
422BC Aristophanes writes Wasps
421BC Aristophanes writes Peace
414BC Aristophanes writes Birds
411BC Aristophanes writes Lysistrata
411BC Aristophanes writes Thesmophoriazusae
234–184 BC Plautus writes The Pot of Gold, Amphytrion, The Haunted House, Miles Gloriosus, The Menaechmus Twins, and Pseudolus
60 Petronius writes Satyricon
160 Lucian writes True History
1532 Rabelais writes Gargantua and Pantagruel
1583-1585 Richard Tarlton is comic for the Queen's Men
1589 Christopher Marlowe writes The Jew of Malta
1592 Shakespeare writes The Comedy of Errors based on a work by Plautus
1593 Shakespeare writes The Taming of the Shrew
1594 William Kempe joins The Lord Chamberlain's Men
1597 Shakespeare writes Henry IV part I
1598 Shakespeare writes Henry IV part II
1599 Shakespeare writes Much Ado About Nothing
1600 Shakespeare writes The Merry Wives of Windsor, Robert Armin joins Lord Chamberlain's Men
1602 Shakespeare writes Twelfth Night
1603 Shakespeare writes Measure for Measure
1605 Cervantes writes Don Quixote
1606 Ben Jonson writes Volpone
1664 Moliere writes Tartuffe
1675 William Wycherley writes The Country Wife
1676 George Etherege writes The Man of Mode based on his friend John Wilmot
1677 Aphra Behn writes The Rover
1684 John Wilmot writes Sodom, or the Quinetessence of Debauchery
1697 John Vanbrugh writes The Provoked Wife
1700 William Congreve writes The Way of the World
1707 George Farquhar writes the Beaux Stratagem
1728 John Gay writes The Beggar's Opera
1729 John Swift writes A Modest Proposal
1730 Marivaux writes The Game of Love and Chance
1738 Harry Woodward joins David Garrick's acting company at Drury Lane
1743 Carlo Goldoni writes The Servant of Two Masters
1759 Voltaire writes Candide
1761 Carlo Gozzi writes Love For Three Oranges
1764 Thomas Weston acts at Drury Lane
1773 Oliver Goldsmith writes She Stoops to Conquer starring Ned Shuter
1777 Richard Sheridan writes The School for Scandal and Thomas King stars in it
1780 Denis Diderot writes Jacques the Fatalist
1818 Thomas Love Peacock writes Nightmare Abbey parodying his friends Shelley and Byron
1836 George Buchner writes Leonce and Lena
1842 Nicolai Gogol writes The Inspector General
1876 Mark Twain writes Tom Sawyer
1878 Gilbert and Sullivan premiere H.M.S. Pinafore
1879 Gilbert and Sullivan premiere The Pirates of Penzance
1884 Mark Twain writes Huckleberry Finn
1885 Gilbert and Sullivan premiere The Mikado
1889 Jerome K. Jerome writes Three Men in a Boat
1892 Oscar Wilde writes Lady Windermere's Fan
1894 George Bernard Shaw writes Candida and Arms and the Man
1895 Oscar Wilde writes The Importance of Being Earnest
1911 Ambrose Bierce writes The Devil's Dictionary
1912 George Bernard Shaw writes Pygmalion
1914 Charlie Chaplin invents the Tramp
1921 Charlie Chaplin makes The Kid
1923 Harold Lloyd makes Safety Last!
1924 Buster Keaton makes Sherlock Jr.
1925 Charlie Chaplin makes The Gold Rush
1927 Buster Keaton makes The General
1928 Bertolt Brecht writes The Threepenny Opera based on The Beggars Opera
1931 Charlie Chaplin makes City Lights
1932 Ernst Lubitsch makes Trouble in Paradise
1933 The Marx Brothers make Duck Soup
1934 The Three Stooges sign with Columbia pictures to make a series of short films
1935 The Marx Brothers make A Night at the Opera, John Steinbeck writes Tortilla Flat
1936 Charlie Chaplin makes Modern Times, William Powell makes My Man Godfry
1937 Henny Youngman performs on the radio
1938 Abbott and Costello perfect "Who's on First", P.G. Wodehouse writes The Code of the Woosters, Cary Grant stars in Bringing Up Baby
1940 Charlie Chaplin makes The Great Dictator, W.C. Fields makes The Bank Dick, Tex Avery invents Bugs Bunny
1941 Bob Hope performs his first USO show
1942 Ernst Lubitsch makes To Be or Not To Be
1944 Frank Capra makes Arsenic and Old Lace
1946 Martin and Lewis form a duo
1950 Sid Caesar invents television comedy with Your Show of Shows, The Burns and Allen Show is televised
1951 Lucille Ball goes from radio star to television star with I Love Lucy
1952 Harvey Kurtzman launches MAD magazine
1955 Ingmar Bergman makes Smiles of a Summer Night, Billy Wilder makes The Seven Year Itch, Jackie Gleason stars in The Honeymooners, Humphrey Bogart and Peter Ustinov make We're No Angels
1957 Don Rickles mocks Frank Sinatra in Las Vegas
1959 Billy Wilder makes Some Like It Hot
1961 Joseph Heller writes Catch-22, Lenny Bruce performs at Carnegie Hall, The Dick Van Dyke Show begins
1962 Johnny Carson hosts the Tonight Show
1964 Peter Sellers acts in Dr. Strangelove
1966 Zero Mostel stars in A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum
1968 Rowan and Martin's Laugh In "Sock it to me!"
1969 Monty Python's Flying Circus premieres on the BBC, as does The Benny Hill Show
1970 Douglas Kenney, Henry Beard, and Robert Hoffman launch National Lampoon Magazine
1971 Caroll O'Connor plays Archie Bunker on All in the Family, Richard Pryor performs Live and Smokin'
1972 Alan Alda stars in MASH and George Carlin performs Seven Dirty Words You Can't Say on Tv, Redd Foxx creates Sanford and Son, Hunter S. Thompson writes Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas
1973 William Goldman writes The Princess Bride
1974 Mel Brooks makes Blazing Saddles and Young Frankenstein
1975 Monty Python makes The Holy Grail, Andy Kaufman performs Mighty Mouse, SNL begins with Aykroyd, Belushi, and Chase
1977 Woody Allen makes Annie Hall, George Carlin performs at USC
1978 Steve Martin performs A Wild and Crazy Guy, John Belushi stars in Animal House, Cheech and Chong make Up in Smoke
1979 Douglas Adams publishes the novelization of his Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy, Richard Pryor Live in Concert, Monty Python's Life of Brian
1980 Caddyshack starring Dangerfield, Murray, and Chase, Dangerfield performs I Don't Get No Respect, Leslie Nielsen stars in Airplane!
1981 Howard Stern breaks out of radio anonymity, Richard Pryor performs Live on the Sunset Strip, Weird Al Yankovic performs Another One Rides the Bus
1982 David Letterman gets his first talkshow, Carlin performs at Carnegie
1983 Eddie Murphy performs Delirius, Bill Cosby Performs Himself, Rowan Atkinson creates Blackadder, Richard Pryor performs Here and Now
1984 The Bill Cosby Show, Sam Kinison gets his break on Rodney Dangerfield's Young Comedians Special, Eddy Murphy Beverly Hills Cop, Carlin on Campus
1986 Robin Williams performs Live At the Met, John Hughes makes Ferris Bueller's Day Off
1987 Eddie Murphy performs Raw, Ed O'Neill plays Al Bundy in Married with Children, Rick Moranis stars in Mel Brooks' Spaceballs, Bill Cosby performs 49
1988 Roseanne Barr stars in Roseanne, Leslie Nielsen stars in The Naked Gun
1989 Jerry Seinfeld makes Seinfeld, Matt Groening airs the Simpsons on Fox, Bill and Ted's Excellent Adventure, Bill Hicks: Sane Man
1990 The Wayans Brothers create In Living Color, Sam Kinison performs Banned, Howard Stern gets his second television show where he plays games like Hooker Hollywood Squares, Lesbian Dating Game, and Guess the Jew
1991 Andrew Dice Clay performs at Madison Square Garden hickory dickory dock, Sam Kinison performs The Family Entertainment Hour
1992 Jay Leno hosts the Tonight Show, Denis Leary performs No Cure for Cancer, Martin Lawrence creates Martin, Bill Hicks performs Relentless, George Carlin Jammin' in New York, Mike Meyers and Dana Carvey make Wayne's World
1993 Mike Judge creates Beavis and Butthead, Bill Hicks performs Revelations, The Conan O'Brien Show airs, Jeff Foxworthy "You Might be a Redneck If"
1994 Kevin Smith makes Clerks, Jim Carry stars in Ace Ventura, The Mask, and Dumb and Dumber
1995 Kevin Smith makes Mallrats
1996 Chris Rock performs Bring the Pain
1997 Trey Parker and Matt Stone create South Park
1998 Seth MacFarlane creates Family Guy, the Coen brothers make The Big Lebowski, Jerry Holkins and Mike Krahulik debut Penny Arcade
1999 Jon Stewart hosts The Daily Show, Chris Rock performs Bigger and Blacker while hosting The Chris Rock Show, Matt Groening creates Futurama, Kevin Smith makes Dogma, George Carlin performs You Are All Diseased
2000 Dave Chappelle performs Killin' Them Softly, Johnny Knoxville creates Jackass, Eddy Izzard performs Dress to Kill
2001 Ricky Gervais creates The Office
2002 Chuck Barris' autobiography Confessions of a Dangerous Mind is filmed
2003 Dave Chappelle hosts The Chappelle Show, Lewis Black performs Black On Broadway
2004 Chris Rock performs Never Scared
2005 Stephen Colbert creates The Colbert Report, George Carlin performs Life Is Worth Losing
2006 Mike Judge makes Idiocracy, John Lee and Vernon Chatman create Wonder Showzen
2007 Judd Apatow makes Superbad
2008 George Carlin performs It's Bad For Ya
2009 Louie C.K. performs Hilarious
2010 Bryan Johnson and Walt Flanagan win the Podcast Awards for Tell 'Em Steve-Dave!
2011 Trey Parker and Matt Stone present The Book of Mormon, Norm MacDonald performs Me Doing Stand Up, Patrice O'Neal performs Elephant in the Room

[Tobin]

423BC Aristophanes writes Clouds
422BC Aristophanes writes Wasps
421BC Aristophanes writes Peace
414BC Aristophanes writes Birds
411BC Aristophanes writes Lysistrata
411BC Aristophanes writes Thesmophoriazusae
234–184 BC Plautus writes The Pot of Gold, Amphytrion, The Haunted House, Miles Gloriosus, The Menaechmus Twins, and Pseudolus
60 Petronius writes Satyricon
160 Lucian writes True History
1532 Rabelais writes Gargantua and Pantagruel
1583-1585 Richard Tarlton is comic for the Queen's Men
1589 Christopher Marlowe writes The Jew of Malta
1592 Shakespeare writes The Comedy of Errors based on a work by Plautus
1593 Shakespeare writes The Taming of the Shrew
1594 William Kempe joins The Lord Chamberlain's Men
1597 Shakespeare writes Henry IV part I
1598 Shakespeare writes Henry IV part II
1599 Shakespeare writes Much Ado About Nothing
1600 Shakespeare writes The Merry Wives of Windsor, Robert Armin joins Lord Chamberlain's Men
1602 Shakespeare writes Twelfth Night
1603 Shakespeare writes Measure for Measure
1605 Cervantes writes Don Quixote
1606 Ben Jonson writes Volpone
1664 Moliere writes Tartuffe
1675 William Wycherley writes The Country Wife
1676 George Etherege writes The Man of Mode based on his friend John Wilmot
1677 Aphra Behn writes The Rover
1684 John Wilmot writes Sodom, or the Quinetessence of Debauchery
1697 John Vanbrugh writes The Provoked Wife
1700 William Congreve writes The Way of the World
1707 George Farquhar writes the Beaux Stratagem
1728 John Gay writes The Beggar's Opera
1729 John Swift writes A Modest Proposal
1730 Marivaux writes The Game of Love and Chance
1738 Harry Woodward joins David Garrick's acting company at Drury Lane
1743 Carlo Goldoni writes The Servant of Two Masters
1759 Voltaire writes Candide
1761 Carlo Gozzi writes Love For Three Oranges
1764 Thomas Weston acts at Drury Lane
1773 Oliver Goldsmith writes She Stoops to Conquer starring Ned Shuter
1777 Richard Sheridan writes The School for Scandal and Thomas King stars in it
1780 Denis Diderot writes Jacques the Fatalist
1818 Thomas Love Peacock writes Nightmare Abbey parodying his friends Shelley and Byron
1836 George Buchner writes Leonce and Lena
1842 Nicolai Gogol writes The Inspector General
1876 Mark Twain writes Tom Sawyer
1878 Gilbert and Sullivan premiere H.M.S. Pinafore
1879 Gilbert and Sullivan premiere The Pirates of Penzance
1884 Mark Twain writes Huckleberry Finn
1885 Gilbert and Sullivan premiere The Mikado
1889 Jerome K. Jerome writes Three Men in a Boat
1892 Oscar Wilde writes Lady Windermere's Fan
1894 George Bernard Shaw writes Candida and Arms and the Man
1895 Oscar Wilde writes The Importance of Being Earnest
1911 Ambrose Bierce writes The Devil's Dictionary
1912 George Bernard Shaw writes Pygmalion
1914 Charlie Chaplin invents the Tramp
1921 Charlie Chaplin makes The Kid
1923 Harold Lloyd makes Safety Last!
1924 Buster Keaton makes Sherlock Jr.
1925 Charlie Chaplin makes The Gold Rush
1927 Buster Keaton makes The General
1928 Bertolt Brecht writes The Threepenny Opera based on The Beggars Opera
1931 Charlie Chaplin makes City Lights
1932 Ernst Lubitsch makes Trouble in Paradise
1933 The Marx Brothers make Duck Soup
1934 The Three Stooges sign with Columbia pictures to make a series of short films
1935 The Marx Brothers make A Night at the Opera, John Steinbeck writes Tortilla Flat
1936 Charlie Chaplin makes Modern Times, William Powell makes My Man Godfry
1937 Henny Youngman performs on the radio
1938 Abbott and Costello perfect "Who's on First", P.G. Wodehouse writes The Code of the Woosters, Cary Grant stars in Bringing Up Baby
1940 Charlie Chaplin makes The Great Dictator, W.C. Fields makes The Bank Dick, Tex Avery invents Bugs Bunny
1941 Bob Hope performs his first USO show
1942 Ernst Lubitsch makes To Be or Not To Be
1944 Frank Capra makes Arsenic and Old Lace
1946 Martin and Lewis form a duo
1950 Sid Caesar invents television comedy with Your Show of Shows, The Burns and Allen Show is televised
1951 Lucille Ball goes from radio star to television star with I Love Lucy
1952 Harvey Kurtzman launches MAD magazine
1955 Ingmar Bergman makes Smiles of a Summer Night, Billy Wilder makes The Seven Year Itch, Jackie Gleason stars in The Honeymooners, Humphrey Bogart and Peter Ustinov make We're No Angels
1957 Don Rickles mocks Frank Sinatra in Las Vegas
1959 Billy Wilder makes Some Like It Hot
1961 Joseph Heller writes Catch-22, Lenny Bruce performs at Carnegie Hall, The Dick Van Dyke Show begins
1962 Johnny Carson hosts the Tonight Show
1964 Peter Sellers acts in Dr. Strangelove
1966 Zero Mostel stars in A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum
1968 Rowan and Martin's Laugh In "Sock it to me!"
1969 Monty Python's Flying Circus premieres on the BBC, as does The Benny Hill Show
1970 Douglas Kenney, Henry Beard, and Robert Hoffman launch National Lampoon Magazine
1971 Caroll O'Connor plays Archie Bunker on All in the Family, Richard Pryor performs Live and Smokin'
1972 Alan Alda stars in MASH and George Carlin performs Seven Dirty Words You Can't Say on Tv, Redd Foxx creates Sanford and Son, Hunter S. Thompson writes Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas
1973 William Goldman writes The Princess Bride
1974 Mel Brooks makes Blazing Saddles and Young Frankenstein
1975 Monty Python makes The Holy Grail, Andy Kaufman performs Mighty Mouse, SNL begins with Aykroyd, Belushi, and Chase
1977 Woody Allen makes Annie Hall, George Carlin performs at USC
1978 Steve Martin performs A Wild and Crazy Guy, John Belushi stars in Animal House, Cheech and Chong make Up in Smoke
1979 Douglas Adams publishes the novelization of his Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy, Richard Pryor Live in Concert, Monty Python's Life of Brian
1980 Caddyshack starring Dangerfield, Murray, and Chase, Dangerfield performs I Don't Get No Respect, Leslie Nielsen stars in Airplane!
1981 Howard Stern breaks out of radio anonymity, Richard Pryor performs Live on the Sunset Strip, Weird Al Yankovic performs Another One Rides the Bus
1982 David Letterman gets his first talkshow, Carlin performs at Carnegie
1983 Eddie Murphy performs Delirius, Bill Cosby Performs Himself, Rowan Atkinson creates Blackadder, Richard Pryor performs Here and Now
1984 The Bill Cosby Show, Sam Kinison gets his break on Rodney Dangerfield's Young Comedians Special, Eddy Murphy Beverly Hills Cop, Carlin on Campus
1986 Robin Williams performs Live At the Met, John Hughes makes Ferris Bueller's Day Off
1987 Eddie Murphy performs Raw, Ed O'Neill plays Al Bundy in Married with Children, Rick Moranis stars in Mel Brooks' Spaceballs, Bill Cosby performs 49
1988 Roseanne Barr stars in Roseanne, Leslie Nielsen stars in The Naked Gun
1989 Jerry Seinfeld makes Seinfeld, Matt Groening airs the Simpsons on Fox, Bill and Ted's Excellent Adventure, Bill Hicks: Sane Man
1990 The Wayans Brothers create In Living Color, Sam Kinison performs Banned, Howard Stern gets his second television show where he plays games like Hooker Hollywood Squares, Lesbian Dating Game, and Guess the Jew
1991 Andrew Dice Clay performs at Madison Square Garden hickory dickory dock, Sam Kinison performs The Family Entertainment Hour
1992 Jay Leno hosts the Tonight Show, Denis Leary performs No Cure for Cancer, Martin Lawrence creates Martin, Bill Hicks performs Relentless, George Carlin Jammin' in New York, Mike Meyers and Dana Carvey make Wayne's World
1993 Mike Judge creates Beavis and Butthead, Bill Hicks performs Revelations, The Conan O'Brien Show airs, Jeff Foxworthy "You Might be a Redneck If"
1994 Kevin Smith makes Clerks, Jim Carry stars in Ace Ventura, The Mask, and Dumb and Dumber
1995 Kevin Smith makes Mallrats
1996 Chris Rock performs Bring the Pain
1997 Trey Parker and Matt Stone create South Park
1998 Seth MacFarlane creates Family Guy, the Coen brothers make The Big Lebowski, Jerry Holkins and Mike Krahulik debut Penny Arcade
1999 Jon Stewart hosts The Daily Show, Chris Rock performs Bigger and Blacker while hosting The Chris Rock Show, Matt Groening creates Futurama, Kevin Smith makes Dogma, George Carlin performs You Are All Diseased
2000 Dave Chappelle performs Killin' Them Softly, Johnny Knoxville creates Jackass, Eddy Izzard performs Dress to Kill
2001 Ricky Gervais creates The Office
2003 Dave Chappelle hosts The Chappelle Show, Lewis Black performs Black On Broadway
2004 Chris Rock performs Never Scared
2005 Stephen Colbert creates The Colbert Report, George Carlin performs Life Is Worth Losing
2006 Mike Judge makes Idiocracy, John Lee and Vernon Chatman create Wonder Showzen
2007 Judd Apatow makes Superbad
2008 George Carlin performs It's Bad For Ya
2009 Louie C.K. performs Hilarious
2011 Trey Parker and Matt Stone present The Book of Mormon, Norm MacDonald performs Me Doing Stand Up, Patrice O'Neal performs Elephant in the Room

Thanks for the huge, if quite general list. Any personal recommendations?

[mortalterror]

Yeah, Catch-22, Huckleberry Finn, Lysistrata, City Lights, and Sam Kinison.

[Charles Darnay]

Candide is a great satire and very readable (not dense at all).

If you are looking for the more comedic, there is (if you haven't read it) Douglas Adams' "Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy."

[PeterL]

The novells of G. C. Edmondson were the best satire of the 20th century. For the humor The Aluminum Man is best, but for depth The Ship That Sailed the Time Stream and To Sail the Century Sea are better..

[Mutatis-Mutandis]

Good list mortal, though I'm not mosr of that would be considered dark or black. Nice little historical list of comedy, though.

The first name that comes to mind when someone wants some dark, dark humor is Kurt Vonnegut. Slaughterhouse-Five is the perfect example. Another one that came to mind would be Faulkner's [I]As I Lay Dying[/], though the humor may be harder to pick up on in that one. I'd definitely give Vonnegut a try.

[Tobin]

Thanks guys for the recommendations. I'll look through them all properly tomorrow.

PS: Mutatis, nice avatar. I'm supposing you're a fan of Tool?

[Desolation]

Dark comedy...

As I Lay Dying by Faulkner
Miss Lonelyhearts by Nathanael West
Anything by Samuel Beckett (far more dark than comedy)
The Metamorphosis by Franz Kafka
Death on the Installment Plan by Louis-Ferdinand Celine

[Mutatis-Mutandis]

PS: Mutatis, nice avatar. I'm supposing you're a fan of Tool?

Yep, been one of my favorite bands for a long, long time. You're the first one to have mentioned recognizing it. Tool is quite fond of dark humor, too, incidentally.

[lowradiation]

The works of Thomas Pynchon

[Gregory Samsa]

Etgar Keret!

[cafolini]

Candide is a great satire and very readable (not dense at all).

If you are looking for the more comedic, there is (if you haven't read it) Douglas Adams' "Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy."

Don't forget Italo Calvino's Cosmicomics.

[Heteronym]

You may want to give Dario Fo's plays a try, or perhaps Václav Havel's. And also Albert Cossery's novel The Jokers.

[Tobin]

Yep, been one of my favorite bands for a long, long time. You're the first one to have mentioned recognizing it. Tool is quite fond of dark humor, too, incidentally.

Yeah...Maynard's a big fan of Bill Hick's stand-up material as am I. The Aenima album is a partial tribute to Bill Hicks if I'm not mistaken. The whole concept of LA falling into the ocean and forming Arizona Bay was mentioned a lot by Hicks and is present in Aenima. Tool are probably my favorite band, perhaps not for so long (3 or so years?). Nice choice of avatar though.

PS: Thanks folks for the recommendations! Really useful to get people's opinions on this.