"Woody Allen"

1. Getting Even
   "Getting Even" is brilliant. It is a short book collection of 17 of the funniest essays that Woody Allen has ever written. I found myself laughing out loud all over the place, and actually finished this book in two brief settings. I generally like to read 1-2 essays a day, but with each one, I wanted more.

   "Death Knocks" is one of the essays in this book that really got me going. It was so darn funny. It felt like a funny version of Ingmar Bergman's Seventh Seal... where the person meant to die will not allow Death to take him. I loved it. "A Look at Organized Crime" was another absolutely hilarious essay.

   Finally "The Gossage-Vardebedian Papers" has got to be one of the funniest essays ever penned. It is the exchange of letters between two chess players as they try to make sense of a game that they are having through the mail. I'm telling you, my gut was bursting.

   This is a great place to get started when reading Woody Allen novels. I know you are going to love this one. Happy reading!

2. Without Feathers
   "Without Feathers" was Woody Allen's second collection of humorous pieces, and maybe his best. These originally appeared in the early 1970's, in magazines like "The New Yorker" and "The New Republic."

   Some are short stories, like "No Kaddish for Weinstein" and "The Whore of Mensa." There are two plays, "Death" (the inspiration for Allen's "Shadows and Fog"), and the much better "God", a masterpiece of absurdity.

   There are parodies of Encyclopedia Brown ("Match Wits with Inspector Ford") and Henrik Ibsen (the hysterical "Lovborg's Women Considered"), irreverent essays on English literature and civil disobedience, reviews of some very bizarre ballets, and more. "Without Feathers" is fantastic. Along with "Getting Even," you will wonder if other comedy books will make you laugh after these masterpieces! You'll be spoiled...but, don't worry, once these books are on your shelf you can always pull them back down anytime you need a laugh!

3. Side Effects
   This book is the third in a collection of short stories by Woody Allen that includes "Getting Even" and "Without Feathers." I recommend you read it after the other two.

   As with the other books, I found the book entirely delightful as well as a very quick read. As in any collection of short stories, some are better than others, but there are at least three classics that make the purchase worthwhile regardless of how you feel about the others. In this book Woody Allen keeps the one-liners coming at such a pace that I cannot believe anyone could be so witty. His writing is always filled with puns and intentional misdirection that keep the reader actively involved in the book. I found myself reading the stories straight though, and finished the book in two sittings, though each story is short enough to read on the fly when you have some extra time.

   Just make sure you read "Side Effects" last among the three, because it doesn't evoke the same fall-out-of-your-chair laughter as "Getting Even" and "Without Feathers." You'll still enjoy it thoroughly and I recommend it highly.

Important Stuff That You Ought To Know All information on this site is copyrighted by Clifford Kuhn, M.D. and Laugh Doctor Enterprises. Nothing here may be used or reprinted without permission of Dr. Kuhn or Natural-Humor-Medicine.com. Natural-Humor-Medicine.com is an organization dedicated to teaching people about the natural medicine of humor. All revenues generated by this site are reinvested in growing the reach of the organization and educating the public about this powerful medicine.