Laughter Therapy: 63 Classic Books of Humorous Tales
A Transatlantic Treasury of Satire, Absurd Fantasy, Farce, and Classic Comic TalesBy Ellis Parker Butler, Honoré de Balzac, Mark Twain, John Kendrick Bangs, Thorne Smith, Robert Fitzgerald, Harry Leon Wilson, H. C. Witwer, F. Anstey, S. R. Crockett, Marietta Holley, Sewell Ford, A. S. M. Hutchinson, Anne Warner, Dornford Yates, Charles Heber Clark, Rudolf Erich Raspe, Finley Peter Dunne, Robert W. Chambers, W. W. Jacobs, F. Morton Howard, Richard Marsh, H. H. Sir Bashford, J. Storer Clouston, O. Henry, Charles Battell Loomis, E. F. Benson, Anita Loos, Wallace Irvin, Lawrence Daniel Fogg, Terry Southern, Henry Wallace Phillips, George V. Hobart, Stephen Leacock, Daisy Ashford, W. A. Darlington, Kendell Foster Crossen, Israel Zangwill, Ring Lardner, Charles Eustace Merriman, Wallace Irwin, Howard Roger Garis, W. Heath Robinson, Lucretia P. Hale, Richmal Crompton, Peter Newell
Length356h 18m
About this audiobook
Laughter Therapy gathers sixty-three classic books of humorous tales into a capacious archive of comic invention, ranging from tall tales, farce, parody, and social satire to domestic comedy, absurdist fantasy, and the gently anarchic children's story. Its selections illuminate humor's power to expose pretension, soften misfortune, and recast everyday life as an arena of surprise. Fantastic adventures, deadpan hoaxes, comic misunderstandings, and sharply observed portraits of provincial, urban, and transatlantic society give the volume both historical breadth and sustained entertainment. The contributors represent an unusually wide Anglo-American and European lineage, joining nineteenth-century humorists with twentieth-century practitioners of modern satire. Their varied careers—in journalism, popular fiction, children's literature, theatrical comedy, and literary experiment—bring together vernacular wit, caricature, linguistic play, and institutional critique. The anthology consequently traces important currents in comic writing: the tall-tale tradition, Victorian nonsense and burlesque, the social comedy of manners, and the American idioms of regionalism and magazine fiction. Across these voices, laughter becomes not merely diversion but a cultural instrument for testing class, gender, authority, respectability, and national myth. Recommended for students, scholars, and general readers alike, Laughter Therapy offers the rare opportunity to encounter a broad comic tradition within one volume. Its multiplicity of styles rewards both sustained study and casual browsing, while the juxtapositions among tales foster a lively dialogue about what humor can reveal. Readers will find an educative, expansive, and genuinely delightful survey of literary laughter.
Audiobook details
GenreHumor, General Fiction
Length356 hrs 18 mins
Narrated byListen with 1,000+ voices
FormateBook with Audio
Publish dateMar 4, 2025
LanguageEnglish
Table of contents
1The Adventures of a Suburbanite
2The Adventures of a Suburbanite
3I. THE PRAWLEYS
4V. THE NEW MR. PRAWLEY
5VII. CHESTERFIELD WHITING
Show all chaptersShow less
6X. ADVANCED GOLF
7Adventures of Huckleberry Finn, Chapters 31 to 35
8HUCKLEBERRY FINN
9Josiah Allen's Wife as a P. A. and P. I
10JOSIAH ALLEN’S WIFE AS A P. A. P. I. SAMANTHA AT THE CENTENNIAL. DESIGNED AS A BRIGHT AND SHINING LIGHT, TO PIERCE THE FOGS OF ERROR AND INJUSTICE THAT SURROUND SOCIETY AND JOSIAH, AND TO BRING MORE CLEARLY TO VIEW THE PATH THAT LEADS STRAIGHT ON TO VIRTUE AND HAPPINESS.
11MY REASONS TO THE KIND AND ALMOST GENTLE READER WHY I DON’T HAVE NO PREFACE TO THIS BOOK.
12WHAT I HAVE WRIT ABOUT.
13WHAT THE KIND ARTIST HAS DONE
14THE JONESVILLE DEBATIN’-SCHOOL.
15THE WIDDER DOODLE.
16A DEBATE ON INTEMPERANCE.
17TIRZAH ANN AS A WIFE.
18P. A. AND P. I.
19HOW I WENT TO ’LECTION.
20HOW WE BOUGHT A SEWIN’ MACHINE AND ORGAN.
21PREPARIN’ FOR OUR TOWER.
22THE WIDDER AND WIDOWER.
23HOW SEREPTA CARRIED THE MEETIN’ HOUSE.
24A VISIT TO PHILANDER SPICER’SES FOLKS.
25MELANKTON SPICER AND HIS FAMILY.
26UNCLE ZEBULIN COFFIN
27THE GRAND EXHIBITION.
28DOIN’ THE MAIN BUILDIN’.
29WIDDER DOODLE AS A BRIDE.
30THE ARTEMUS GALLERY.
31VARIOUS MATTERS.
32ANOTHER DAY ON THE GROUNDS.
33THE REUNION.
34Josiah Allen on the Woman Question (pt. 1)
35Josiah Allen on the Woman Question (pt. 2)
36The Adventures of a Modest Man
37The Adventures of a Modest Man
38CHAPTER I
39CHAPTER III
40CHAPTER V
41CHAPTER VIII
42CHAPTER XII
43CHAPTER XV
44CHAPTER XVIII
45CHAPTER XXI
46CHAPTER XXIV
47The £1,000,000 bank-note, and other new stories
48The £1,000,000 bank-note, and other new stories
49MENTAL TELEGRAPHY
50A CURE FOR THE BLUES
More from Ellis Parker Butler, Honoré de Balzac, Mark Twain, John Kendrick Bangs, Thorne Smith, Robert Fitzgerald, Harry Leon Wilson, H. C. Witwer, F. Anstey, S. R. Crockett, Marietta Holley, Sewell Ford, A. S. M. Hutchinson, Anne Warner, Dornford Yates, Charles Heber Clark, Rudolf Erich Raspe, Finley Peter Dunne, Robert W. Chambers, W. W. Jacobs, F. Morton Howard, Richard Marsh, H. H. Sir Bashford, J. Storer Clouston, O. Henry, Charles Battell Loomis, E. F. Benson, Anita Loos, Wallace Irvin, Lawrence Daniel Fogg, Terry Southern, Henry Wallace Phillips, George V. Hobart, Stephen Leacock, Daisy Ashford, W. A. Darlington, Kendell Foster Crossen, Israel Zangwill, Ring Lardner, Charles Eustace Merriman, Wallace Irwin, Howard Roger Garis, W. Heath Robinson, Lucretia P. Hale, Richmal Crompton, Peter Newell
The Mysteries of Philo Gubb, School Detective (Annotated)Ellis Parker Butler10h 6m$2 · $0.00
Detective Philo Gubb's Cases (Annotated)Ellis Parker Butler10h 6m$2 · $0.00
Goat-FeathersEllis Parker Butler1h 3m$2 · $0.00
Perkins of Portland: Perkins The GreatEllis Parker Butler3h 2m$2 · $0.00
That PupEllis Parker Butler1h 33m$2 · $0.00
Dominie DeanEllis Parker Butler8h 30m$2 · $0.00
The Incubator BabyEllis Parker Butler1h 59m$2 · $0.00
The RevoltEllis Parker Butler43m$2 · $0.00
The Confessions of a DaddyEllis Parker Butler59m$1 · $0.00
The Adventures of a SuburbaniteEllis Parker Butler3h 13m$2 · $0.00
The Thin Santa Claus: The Chicken Yard That Was a Christmas StockingEllis Parker Butler30m$1 · $0.00
KiloEllis Parker Butler6h 29m$2 · $0.00
The Mystery Cases of Detective Philo GubbEllis Parker Butler9h 55m$2 · $0.00
The Life of DaiDai Henwood, Jaquie Brown8h 2m$26 · $0.00
Poems of ParentingLoryn Brantz42m4.0 (1)$9 · $0.00
What If? 10th Anniversary EditionRandall Munroe7h 29m$23
Welcome to PawneeJim O'Heir6h 24m$24 · $0.00
Going PostalTerry Pratchett13h 36m$33 · $0.00
Woman UninterruptedBrodie Kane7h 1m$24 · $0.00
1984 & Animal Farm (Annotated)George Orwell15h 54m$1.99 · $0.00
Kingsblood Royal (Annotated)Sinclair Lewis14h 42m$2 · $0.00
Hot Cowgirl Sh*tLacie Evans2h 15m$15
This Is Going to HurtAdam Kay5h 47m$24 · $0.00
MAKE WAY FOR LUCIA - Complete Mapp and Lucia Series (6 Novels & 2 Short Stories)E. F. Benson60h 25m$1 · $0.00
You Will Get Through This NightDaniel Howell6h 56m$24 · $0.00
Northanger Abbey (Annotated)Jane Austen10h 7m$2 · $0.00
My Dear HamiltonStephanie Dray, Laura Kamoie23h 7m$46 · $0.00
THE SCREWTAPE LETTERS & SCREWTAPE PROPOSES A TOAST (Annotated)C. S. Lewis5h 6m$2 · $0.00
The Night Before Christmas at Dunder MifflinBrian Baumgartner, Ben Silverman6m$4 · $0.00
The Complete Novels of G. K. Chesterton (Annotated)G. K. Chesterton58h 29m$3 · $0.00
The Complete Works of SakiSaki, H. H. Munro52h 37m$2 · $0.00
Jungle UpNick Pirog10h 8m$20
The 13½ Lives of Captain BluebearWalter Moers16h 10m$28
The Complete Works of Jane Austen (Unabridged)Jane Austen88h 8m5.0 (1)$1 · $0.00
Desperate MeasuresBrenda Jackson8h 59m5.0 (1)$28 · $0.00
Searching For ThanksgivingS.E. Smith4h 24m$20
Naughty 4Brenda Hampton7h 30m$17
The Dance with Me TrilogyShelley Shepard Gray21h 44m$35
Anne Shirley (Complete 14 Book Collection)Lucy Maud Montgomery125h 28m$2 · $0.00
The DopemanJaQuavis Coleman5h 25m$20
Sherlock Holmes: The Ultimate CollectionArthur Conan Doyle59h 49m$5 · $0.00
BAEJahquel J.5h 22m$20
Dark RisingJeffrey Wilson, Brian Andrews13h 47m$27
WhistlerAnn Patchett10h 45m4.5 (26)$29 · $0.00
Grand Opening 2Carl Weber9h 16m$20
Sons of Valor II: Violence of ActionBrian Andrews, Jeffrey Wilson12h 34m$23
Malevolent MagicMildred Abbott7h 13m$17
Bikes, Toys, and Hot BoyzGenesis Woods, Shantaé13h 9m$23
This Side of Paradise - The Original 1920 Edition (Annotated)F. Scott Fitzgerald11h 30m$2 · $0.00
War LordBernard Cornwell13h 21m$33 · $0.00
Ghetto BastardK’wan7h 37m$20
The Great Gatsby: Original 1925 Edition (An F. Scott Fitzgerald Classic NovelFrancis Scott Fitzgerald4h 45m$18 · $0.00
The Vineyard BrideKatie Winters5h 5m$15
You may also like
Judgments in VacationEdward Abbott Sir Parry7h 52m$2 · $0.00
Some of Æsop's Fables with Modern InstancesAesop1h 32m$2 · $0.00
Certain Personal MattersH. G. Wells4h 44m$2 · $0.00
RemarksBill Nye17h 17m$2.30
The Diary of a NobodyGeorge Grossmith, Weedon Grossmith4h 52m$20
Allan RamsayWilliam Henry Oliphant Smeaton2h 44m$2 · $0.00
Best Dad Jokes EverChantelle Grace42m$5 · $0.00
Seared Cream O'Wit, A Classified Compilation of the Best Wit and HumorCarl. J. Mittler3h 10m$2.30
The Diary of Adam and EveMark Twain3h 51m$4 · $0.00
Episodes in Van Bibber's LifeRichard Harding Davis0m$2 · $0.00
SmokeIvan Sergeevich Turgenev6h 49m$2.30 · $0.00
Cobb's Bill-of-FareIrvin S. Cobb2h 28m$2 · $0.00
The Elements of Style (Annotated)William Strunk Jr.1h 33m$2 · $0.00
My Man Jeeves (Annotated)P. G. Wodehouse6h 59m$2 · $0.00
The Big Cheese Presents: Have Yourself a Cheesy Little ChristmasJory John11m$4 · $0.00
THE DECAMERONGiovanni Boccaccio33h 2m$1 · $0.00
AphorismsOscar Wilde11m$5 · $0.00
The TatlerJoseph Addison, Richard Steele56h 29m$1 · $0.00
The Philosophy of Voltaire - Essential Works (Annotated)Voltaire121h 18m$2 · $0.00
Humorist of the Pencil: Phil MayPhil May17m$2.30