21st Century Literature discussion

Know a good joke about books/reading? Read a joke or pun in a book that has stuck with you?
Share any/all book/reading jokes/puns here!
(These can be about books/reading or they can be ones you came across by way of books/reading.)

No senses of humor, eh? Just kidding. Here're a couple that have stuck with me:

What do you get when you cross an insomniac, an unwilling agnostic, and a dyslexic?
Somebody who stays up all night torturing himself mentally over whether or not there’s a dog.
-- From Infinite Jest by David Foster Wallace


Q: Why did the one-handed man cross the road?
A: To get to the second-hand shop.
- From “The Eyes of Saint Lucy” in And I Do Not Forgive You by Amber Sparks

I am just very bad at remembering jokes accurately

I think that's probably the case for most people (the two above, I wrote down somewhere and didn't memorize). There's one from The Sellout that I never forget, but it's not really one you can share out of context.

I feel like more puns should come to mind, but none are...

Richard Powers likes a good pun.

Marriage is “one’s condition being permanently altared”

And I liked “halfway between a- and be-mused” whiich was from either The Overstory or Bewilderment, I think.

There are loads more sprinkled across his books.

See, I knew this group's readers had come across some gems---thanks, Neil! Ali Smith is another writer who I feel likes puns, but I'll have to search and see if any stand out.

“Somatized and the living is easy” was a good one from Ali Smith. But you are rather spoilt for choice in her books.

Is that from Summer? I don't remember it, but seems like one that I should have!

I think it is from Spring but I am going from memory and that’s not reliable!

Neil wrote: "...but I am going from memory and that’s not reliable!"

Now that I can relate to!!! :D

One I remember is Anthony burgess' description of Hamlet in earthly Powers

Ham Omelette

Not a pun, but the book title Hamnet feels like one and makes me not want to read the book...

Marc wrote: "Not a pun, but the book title Hamnet feels like one and makes me not want to read the book..."

Don't miss Hamnet because of the title (I know it sounds like spam). O'Farrell has a very intentional, historical reason for it - Google it. One of my favorite books.

I don't think I've heard anything negative about it, Sarah, so I'll eventually get over myself.

Hamnet is the book which motivated me to search for a group that reads contemporary literature ( and I joined this group) before reading this I used to underestimate modern writing just confining myself to poetry and award winners.

But I liked the book because it is a historical fiction based on Shakespeare’s life.

Marc wrote: "Not a pun, but the book title Hamnet feels like one and makes me not want to read the book..."

Hamnet was the name of Shakespeare's son who died. My understanding is that the loss of his son is what O'Farrell is examining in her book? (I confess I haven't read it, but it's not like she's making a cutesy form of "Hamlet" for her title.)

An here you thought I was just trying to derail this thread, but really, it was just a natural transition to Shakespearean puns:
https://nosweatshakespeare.com/blog/s...

Like Hugh, I don't usually remember jokes accurately either.

Pale Fire is chock full of puns relating to other works. One that stuck with me (likely for its mild vulgarity) is a little girl pointing out to the narrator "Here is where Papa pisses" as a reference to Robert Browning's "Pippa Passes".

Open Finnegans Wake to any random page and you're likely to come across several puns or other examples of word play (once in awhile I even understand a reference, which makes me feel super smart, even if 99% of them went over my head).

And, the ur wordplay text, Alice In Wonderland. I believe it's the mouse who reads from a "very dry" history to help after everyone gets soaking wet; he of the "long and sad tail".

Animal's People has one that I still chuckle about: Jamisponding. It took me about half the book to figure out that the character, who was spying, meant James Bonding.

Tracy wrote: "Animal's People has one that I still chuckle about: Jamisponding. It took me about half the book to figure out that the character, who was spying, meant James Bonding."

haha I liked that one as well