Absurdist Fiction

[KilgoreTrout]

I've been on an absurdist kick lately. You know, the type of book where an everyman stumbles into extraordinary circumstances against his will, and generally makes a cluster [censored] out of things in a humorous way. I've listed some books below. If you're familiar with these I'm looking for something similar so I can delay my summer reading project (the bros. karamazov) for a while longer.

Author: KV (duh)
Breakfast of Champions
Sirens of Titan
Bluebeard

Author: Christopher Moore
The Lust Lizard of Melancholy Cove
The Island of the Sequined Love Nun
Lamb
Coyote Blue

Author: Bill Fitzhugh
Pest Control

Author: R.L. Haskett
Duncan Delaney and the Cadillac of Doom

Author: Matt Ruff (Matt's a 2p2er)
Fool on a Hill

Author: Tom Robbins
Another Roadside Attraction
Skinny Legs and All
Fierce Invalids Home from Hot Climates

Author: Robert Grudin
Book

Author: Joseph Heller
Catch-22

You get the idea. Even plays like Stoppard's Travesties or Rosencrantz... would do the trick. Mainly looking for something new and absurd.

[JPinAZ]

Robert Anton Wilson & Robert Shea
The Illuminatus! Trilogy

A fun read that will leave you wondering WTF? every once in a while. A good amount of sex & drugs thrown in to boot.

[Blarg]

This is a definition of absurdist I wasn't expecting. I was thinking along the lines of Gogol's story about the nose that takes off on its own, or Brautigan's Trout Fishing in America.

[TheDudeAbides]

Does Kafka count?

[diebitter]

[ QUOTE ]
Does Kafka count?

[/ QUOTE ]

yes, on each mandible.

[Wynton]

I just picked up my first Christopher Moore book, "A Dirty Job," and I'm really enjoying it.

How are his other books?

By the way, Brothers K is one of my favorite books of all time.

[katyseagull]

[ QUOTE ]
I just picked up my first Christopher Moore book, "A Dirty Job," and I'm really enjoying it.

How are his other books?



[/ QUOTE ]

His book Lamb is one of my all time favorite books. I really like his style of writing.

[swede123]

I'm sure you'd enjoy the Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy books (by Douglas Adams) if you haven't read them yet. They pretty much fit your description perfectly.

Swede

[KilgoreTrout]

Chris Moore, in order of preference:

Lust Lizard
Coyote Blue
Love Nun
Lamb
Bloodsucking Fiends

I have Dirty Job and Fluke but haven't started them yet (the Warden is working her way through them both). I laughed aloud several times during Lust Lizard, FWIW.

I differentiate between absurdist and surrealist lit. Ianesco's Rhinoceros falls in the surreal camp (IMO) but one could easily argue that it's absurdist.

Adams's stuff fits the bill, but I have the original BBC serial on CD and have read them all - even the detective stuff.

Chris Moore's website has a couple suggestions.

I think the key element I'm looking for is fun. Brothers K is going to be dense enough. I need some brain candy first.

[mrbaseball]

I think you would enjoy Richard Brautigan a lot. I used to toy around with being this sort of author and then I read Brautigan's "Dreaming of Babylon" which was the book I wanted to write. He is easily my favorite author and fits the bill to a tee for exactly what you seem to be looking for.