Interviews with David Sedaris, Dave Barry, Jack Handey, Bob Odenkirk, and other humor-writing pros: "Sure to captivate anyone who loves a good comedy." — Publishers Weekly (starred review)If you aspire to write sitcoms, standup, screenplays, or satirical essays—or are just a connoisseur of comedy—you should learn from the professionals. With interviews from twenty-one top humor writers whose credits include everything from Marx Brothers movies to Borat

Named One of Vulture's Top 5 Humor Books of the Year!The novelization to the 1992 Gen X movie "Slouchers"It is the early 1990s in Seattle ... and the MTV video for Nirvana's "Smells Like Teen Spirit" has just premiered the previous week. Lethargy is in the air. Grunge fashion is all the logy rage. Something is brewing beneath these moist, overcast Seattle skies.Twenty-two-year-old Willow Montgomery has freshly arrived in town, having just graduated from an elite lib...

in Pink is the latest book from best-selling author Mike Sacks (And Here's the Kicker, Poking a Dead Frog, Stinker Lets Loose).Passable in Pink deftly sends up the 1980s and John Hughes movies while addressing the vital question: Will Addy Stevenson go to the senior prom?Addy is suffering through her sophomore year at suburban Chicago's Northridge High. She lives on the "wrong" side of the lake with her father, a struggling advertising copywriter ("Where t...

A NEW YORK TIMESBESTSELLERNAMED A BEST BOOK OF THE YEAR BY NPRAmy Poehler, Mel Brooks, Adam McKay, George Saunders, Bill Hader, Patton Oswalt, and many more take us deep inside the mysterious world of comedy in this fascinating, laugh-out-loud-funny book. Packed with behind-the-scenes stories—from a day in the writers’ room at The Onion to why a sketch does or doesn’t make it onto Saturday Night Live to ho...

It's a ritual as time-honored among teenagers as prom or pretending to be sick to get out of changing for PE—glossy catalogs from colleges arriving by the dozen each spring. Aside from the faint odor of kiwi bubblegum vape smoke, Woodmont College's catalog, Welcome to Woodmont, is superficially not unlike the others. But there's no school quite like Woodmont College (no longer "university" due to a court order). And every page of this catalog is proof of this special uniqueness, w...

At long last ... the candid, shocking and previously untold story of Skippy "Batty" Battison, the universe's most radical, free-thinking, and honest comedian, comedy writer, satellite radio and podcasting star!Vulture's Best Books of 2022 (So Far!)Mike Sacks is a master of a particular type of writing that he probably invented or at least perfected - a dazzling, tricky act of written performance art, composing an entire manuscript from the point o...

Your Wildest Dreams, Within Reason collects Mike Sacks's unique humor pieces--craigslist ads, lesser-known tantric positions, letters to famous authors, lists, jokes, and the occasional illustration--into one handsome volume.Ever accidentally sent a mass e-mail to your office describing your Not Safe-For-Work fantasy kingdom? Or been confused about the ground rules at a cuddle party? Looking to rent an overpriced room in the Hamptons from a co-dependent sociopath w...

"I Am Super Pumped! Let's Do This Shit!!!!!!!!!!!" is a collection of conversations between Mike Sacks and his PR guy to promote Sacks's 2022 book, PASSING ON THE RIGHT. A follow-up to the book PASSING ON THE RIGHT.

“An elegant and accessible” investigation of quantum mechanics—“highly recommended” for students of the sciences, sci-fi fans, and anyone interested in the strange world of quantum physics (Forbes)Rules of the quantum world seem to say that a cat can be both alive and dead at the same time and a particle can be in two places at once. And that particle is also a wave; everything in the quantum world can described in terms of waves—or entirely in terms of pa...

With an experienced CIA officer as your teacher, you’ll gain the knowledge and necessary tools to protect yourself and the ones you love.No matter where we go, we leave tracks and clues of our existence without even knowing. Our electronic footprint becomes our invisible trail. In this day in age where the world seems to be at our fingertips and social media plays a huge role in our daily lives, it’s hard not to leave part of our digital selves for others to find.

Discover the origins and traditions of world religions!With so many religions in the world, it isn't always easy to recall each faith's key influences, spiritual figures, and dogmas. Written in easy-to-understand language, Religion 101 offers a fascinating--and memorable--glimpse at the sacred stories, traditions, and doctrines that have influenced today's most popular religions.From Jesus and the Four Noble Truths to the Buddhist Wheel of Existence, this book pr...

"A mesmerizing account that illuminates not just the Napoleonic wars but all of modern history . . . It reads like a novel" (Lynn Hunt, Eugen Weber Professor of modern European history, UCLA).The twentieth century is usually seen as "the century of total war." But as the historian David A. Bell argues in this landmark work, the phenomenon actually began much earlier, in the era of muskets, cannons, and sailing ships—in the age of Napoleon.In a sweeping, evo...