The Greatest Western Humor Books of All Time

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This list represents a comprehensive and trusted collection of the greatest books. Developed through a specialized algorithm, it brings together 759 'best of' book lists to form a definitive guide to the world's most acclaimed books. For those interested in how these books are chosen, additional details can be found on the rankings page.

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Rank Book Authors Year Country Language Actions
8 Don Quixote Miguel de Cervantes 1605 Spanish Spanish
122 Decameron Giovanni Boccaccio 1353 Italian Italian
134 Tom Jones Henry Fielding 1749 British English
159 The Good Soldier Švejk Jaroslav Hašek 1921 Czech Czech
165 Winnie the Pooh A. A. Milne 1926 British English
190 The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy Douglas Adams 1979 British English
203 A Confederacy of Dunces John Kennedy Toole 1980 American English
243 The Adventures of Tom Sawyer Mark Twain 1876 American English
267 Pippi Longstocking Astrid Lindgren 1945 Swedish Swedish
277 The Pickwick Papers Charles Dickens 1836 British English
392 Lucky Jim Kingsley Amis 1954 British English
407 The World According to Garp John Irving 1978 American English
435 Scoop Evelyn Waugh 1938 British English
480 Cold Comfort Farm Stella Gibbons 1932 British English
522 The Phantom Tollbooth Norton Juster 1961 American English
538 Zazie in the Metro Raymond Queneau 1959 French French
556 The Code of the Woosters P. G. Wodehouse 1938 British English
617 Pnin Vladimir Nabokov 1957 Russian English
630 The Swindler Francisco de Quevedo 1626 Spanish Spanish
641 Bridget Jones's Diary Helen Fielding 1996 British English
676 The Princess Bride William Goldman 1973 American English
683 Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas Hunter S. Thompson 1971 American English
691 Excellent Women Barbara Pym 1952 British English
712 A Connecticut Yankee In King Arthur's Court Mark Twain 1889 American English
760 Decline and Fall Evelyn Waugh 1928 British English
775 Cheese Willem Elsschot 1933 Belgian Dutch
778 The Cat in the Hat Dr. Seuss 1957 American English
782 Three Men in a Boat Jerome K. Jerome 1889 British English
800 The Loved One Evelyn Waugh 1948 British English
875 Greguerias Ramón Gómez de la Serna 1910 Spanish Spanish
876 Lysistrata Aristophanes -411 Greek Ancient greek
890 High Fidelity Nick Hornby 1995 British English
932 The Clouds Aristophanes -423 Greek Ancient greek
942 Cannery Row John Steinbeck 1945 American English
946 The Diary of a Nobody George Grossmith, Weedon Grossmith 1892 British English
957 The Little World Of Don Camillo Giovanni Guareschi 1948 Italian Italian
963 Zuleika Dobson Max Beerbohm 1911 British English
984 Tartuffe Molière 1664 French French
993 Essays of E. B. White E. B. White 1977 American English
1039 Birds of America Lorrie Moore 1998 American English
1111 Get Shorty Elmore Leonard 1990 American English
1143 Tevye The Dairyman And The Railroad Stories Sholem Aleichem 1894 Jewish Yiddish
1161 The Twelve Chairs Ilya Ilf, Evgeniy Petrov 1928 Russian Russian
1165 The Horse's Mouth Joyce Cary 1944 British English
1167 Gentlemen Prefer Blondes Anita Loos 1925 American English
1172 My Family And Other Animals Gerald Durrell 1956 British English
1185 The Inimitable Jeeves P. G. Wodehouse 1923 British English
1208 Love in a Cold Climate Nancy Mitford 1949 British English
1216 Billy Liar Keith Waterhouse 1959 British English
1221 Thank You, Jeeves P. G. Wodehouse 1934 British English
1226 The Adventures of Peregrine Pickle Tobias Smollett 1751 British English
1288 The 13 Clocks James Thurber 1950 American English
1296 The Works of Moliere Molière 1666 French French
1310 Our Man In Havana Graham Greene 1958 British English
1341 The Graduate Charles Webb 1963 American English
1346 Matilda Roald Dahl 1988 British English
1356 Towards The End Of The Morning Michael Frayn 1967 British English
1377 Charlie And The Chocolate Factory, Roald Dahl 1964 British English
1382 The Importance of Being Earnest Oscar Wilde 1895 Irish English
1397 The BFG Roald Dahl 1982 British English
1405 The Twits Roald Dahl 1980 British English
1415 Life on the Mississippi Mark Twain 1883 American English
1417 Karlson On The Roof Astrid Lindgren 1955 Swedish Swedish
1429 Aphorisms Georg Christoph Lichtenberg 1902 German German
1463 Camera Obscura Nicolaas Beets 1839 Dutch Dutch
1481 The Little Golden Calf Ilya Ilf, Evgeniy Petrov 1931 Russian Russian
1565 A Supposedly Fun Thing I'll Never Do Again David Foster Wallace 1997 American English
1594 The Imaginary Invalid Molière 1673 French French
1611 Some Experiences Of An Irish R.M. E.Œ. Somerville, Martin Ross 1899 Irish English
1626 The Colour of Magic Terry Pratchett 1983 British English
1661 A Midsummer Night's Dream William Shakespeare 1595 British English
1682 Asterix the Gaul Rene Goscinny 1959 French French
1707 The House at Pooh Corner A. A. Milne 1928 British English
1716 Lake Wobegon Days Garrison Keillor 1985 American English
1741 The Secret Diary of Adrian Mole Aged 13 3/4 Sue Townsend 1982 British English
1754 Changing Places David Lodge 1975 British English
1819 Carry On, Jeeves P. G. Wodehouse 1925 British English
1838 Just William Richmal Crompton 1922 British English
1885 Little Disturbances Grace Paley 1959 American English
1895 Me Talk Pretty One Day David Sedaris 2000 American English
1900 Collected Stories Of O. Henry O. Henry 1908 American English
1903 Handley Cross R. S. Surtees 1843 British English
1907 Consider The Lobster David Foster Wallace 2005 American English
1915 A Modest Proposal and Other Satirical Works Jonathan Swift 1729 Irish English
1948 Topper Takes A Trip Thorne Smith 1932 American English
2089 Parkinson's Law C. Northcote Parkinson 1957 British English
2102 Collected Short Stories of Saki Saki 1930 British English
2116 Stories of Mr. Keuner Bertolt Brecht 1926 German German
2142 Home Sweet Homicide Craig Rice 1944 American English
2172 Essays Charles Lamb 1823 British English
2223 Good Omens Terry Pratchett, Neil Gaiman 1990 British English
2240 Flashman George MacDonald Fraser 1969 British English
2249 1066 And All That W. C. Sellar 1930 British English
2366 Little Big Man Thomas Berger 1964 American English
2373 Put Out More Flags Evelyn Waugh 1942 British English
2387 Emil I Lönneberga Astrid Lindgren 1963 Swedish Swedish
2389 It Can't Always Be Caviar Johannes Mario Simmel 1960 Austrian German
2439 Puckoon Spike Milligan 1963 Irish English
2443 The Ascent Of Rum Doodle W. E. Bowman 1956 British English
2452 Joy in the Morning P. G. Wodehouse 1946 British English
2453 Black Mischief Evelyn Waugh 1932 British English
2455 Molesworth Geoffrey Willans, Ronald Searle 1953 British English
2519 The American Way of Death Jessica Mitford 1963 American English
2534 A Man Called Ove Fredrik Backman 2012 Swedish Swedish
2539 A Bear Called Paddington Michael Bond 1958 British English
2544 Miss Pettigrew Lives for a Day Winifred Watson 1938 British English
2585 Bokhandlaren som slutade bada Fritiof Nilsson Piraten 1937 Swedish Swedish
2624 Collected Writings Ambrose Bierce 1909 American English
2638 The Adventures of Captain Underpants Dav Pilkey 1997 American English
2680 Generation X Douglas Coupland 1991 Canadian English
2752 Castle Gripsholm Kurt Tucholsky 1931 German German
2774 Max And Moritz Wilhelm Busch 1865 German German
2802 The Old Devils Kingsley Amis 1986 British English
2852 A Bullet In The Ballet Caryl Brahms &S. J. Simon 1937 British English
2858 The Dog Of The South Charles Portis 1979 American English
2872 Surely You're Joking, Mr. Feynman! Richard P. Feynman 1985 American English
2880 The Comedy Of Errors William Shakespeare 1594 British English
2928 The Great Shark Hunt Hunter S. Thompson 1979 American English
2931 Tourist Season Carl Hiaasen 1986 American English
2976 Penrod Booth Tarkington 1914 American English