Just read Tayari’s link to the Jezebel post about the NYT article. Women writers aren’t funny! Just off the top of my head:
- Florence King. Confessions of a Failed Southern Lady. Made me laugh until I was stupid.
- Dodie Smith. I Capture the Castle. A gentler humor, but seriously funny.
- I’d even argue that a lot of The Country Girls trilogy by Edan O’Brien is comedy.
- Gentlemen Prefer Blondes, the 1925 Anita Loos novel, not the 1953 Marilyn Monroe vehicle.
- The Egg and I, by Betty MacDonald. OK, so it’s a memoir, not a novel. Still.
- Bridget Jones’ Diary. Chick-lit? Sure. Spawner of a thousand pink-covered saccharine imitations and responsible for the current plague of clumsy heroines? Guilty. Funny? Definitely.
And I don’t even have my bookshelf in front of me.
Of course, Tayari asked for funny women of color, and that’s, sadly, a lot harder.
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October 19, 2008 at 4:22 am
Hi, Alisa —
It’s a month after you posted this, and I just met you today at the S.C.I.F.I. writers’ group.
The writer of this silly article has never read Fran Liebowitz? “Metropolitan Life,” “Social Studies,” and a zillion hilarious magazine articles?
In SF, there’s Kage Baker, author of the “Company” series of novels and stories — John LeCarre might dream of being so milk-snorgingly funny with his own brand of political intrigue sagas, indeed he might not have imagined it possible, so Kage has graciously filled the gap.
Also in SF/Fantasy, there’s Jody Scott (see http://www.jodyscott.org/), author of two novels that forever bent how I perceive ETs and vampires: “Passing for Human” and “I, Vampire.” Ain’t gonna say more — go to her site and read the sample chapters.
PS – I really enjoyed “Parvati and the Snake.” Kinda reminds me of my own timein India.
Cheers!