I hesitate to call myself an expert on empathy and humor, but I am absolutely passionate about both. As a performer in my earlier years, I find no greater joy than making people laugh. As a human who was lucky enough to be raised with love, I find no greater purpose, no greater hope for our survival as a species than caring for one another. The science and technology that may save humanity from extinction should spring forth from the same place as the love and humor that may save our souls (presuming we have them 😊): Compassion for one another. When you find these lessons in books, they stick.
The only non-fiction book on my list, though you could put any of Vonnegut’s fiction titles on a list about cultivating empathy in humor. However, this late-career non-fiction work from one of, if not my favorite author(s), had a dramatic impact on me. To read the thoughts, often so close to despair, of a man so skilled at telling jokes… Vonnegut directly expressed so many human insights and emotions in this book that I felt a kinship to him on another level, only heightening my appreciation for his works of fiction.
NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER • “For all those who have lived with Vonnegut in their imaginations . . . this is what he is like in person.”–USA Today
In a volume that is penetrating, introspective, incisive, and laugh-out-loud funny, one of the great men of letters of this age–or any age–holds forth on life, art, sex, politics, and the state of America’s soul. From his coming of age in America, to his formative war experiences, to his life as an artist, this is Vonnegut doing what he does best: Being himself. Whimsically illustrated by the author, A Man Without a…
A sweeping tale of profound, everlasting love. Like Vonnegut, I could pretty much put any of Tom Robbins’ books on this list. His ability to effortlessly balance difficult subjects with a wink and a smile while presenting deft character examinations and convoluted plotlines fascinates me. One moment he will be discussing the history of man and our atrocities only to eventually explain how a stone tossed 500 years ago informed the creation of the taco. While some may find Robbins sardonic at times, I’ve always perceived a level of warmth for his characters and in his commentary that draws me even further into his world.
Jitterbug Perfume is an epic. Which is to say, it begins in the forests of ancient Bohemia and doesn't conclude until nine o'clock tonight [Paris time]. It is a saga, as well. A saga must have a hero, and the hero of this one is a janitor with a missing bottle. The bottle is blue, very, very old, and embossed with the image of a goat-horned god. If the liquid in the bottle is actually the secret essence of the universe, as some folks seem to think, it had better be discovered soon because it is leaking and there is…
Brilliant, playful, and often poignant, Moore presented his take on the life of Jesus with genuine care. While I’m certain there are folks who might find any level of fictionalizing Jesus’ life offensive, I was thoroughly impressed with Moore’s ability to explore the subject with a painstaking level of respect…and great fun! His Afterword in the edition I own maps out in detail some of the efforts he made to empathize with his characters and the times they lived in.
The birth of Jesus has been well chronicled, as have his glorious teachings, acts, and divine sacrifice after his thirtieth birthday. But no one knows about the early life of the Son of God, the missing years - except Biff, the Messiah's best bud, who has been resurrected to tell the story in this divinely hilarious, yet heartfelt work 'reminiscent of Vonnegut and Douglas Adams' (Philadelphia Inquirer). Verily, the story Biff has to tell is a miraculous one, filled with remarkable journeys, magic, healings, kung fu, corpse reanimations, demons, and hot babes, Even the considerable wiles and devotion of the…
If you’re already familiar with it, this novel may seem like a weird fit amongst the rest of the books on this list. Yet, though it is a sci-fi mystery with a strong sense of chaotic inevitability felt throughout, the protagonist’s self-deprecating humor in the midst of the world’s collapse compels me to includeThe Last Policeman. Winters’ psychological exploration of people who believe themselves to be doomed is explored in a well-rounded fashion, highlighted by a policeman who perpetually questions the point of his own efforts. A fun, compelling sci-fi mystery with a deeply compassionate hero.
In THE LAST POLICEMAN, Edgar Award winner and New York Times bestselling author Ben H. Winters, offers readers something they've never seen before: A police procedural set on the brink of an apocalypse. What's the point in solving murders when we're going to die soon, anyway? Hank Palace, a homicide detective in Concord, New Hampshire, asks this question every day. Most people have stopped doing whatever it is they did before the asteroid 2011L47J hovered into view. Stopped selling real estate; stopped working at hospitals; stopped slinging hash or driving cabs or trading high-yield securities. A lot of folks spend…
I rarely laugh out loud when reading a book. I chuckle inside my head all the time, but reading is such a place of internal combustion and isolation, I rarely articulate my response to the live world. Forrest Gumpmade me laugh out loud on numerous occasions. This is not Tom Hank’s Forrest, and although I believe the film’s characterization showed levels of complexity and growth throughout the movie, Groom’s Forrest is a much more dynamic character. Yes, Forrest appears simple yet surprisingly wise at times, but he’s also a jerk sometimes, and maybe a little bit of a bully when necessary. At the end of the day he’s a fully rounded human, flawed but lovable.
DISCOVER THE BESTSELLING NOVEL THAT INSPIRED THE CLASSIC OSCAR-WINNING FILM
It's Forrest Gump as you've never seen him before, but just as lovable as ever.
At 6'6", 240 pounds, Forrest Gump is a difficult man to ignore, so follow Forrest from the football dynasties of Bear Bryant to the Vietnam War, from encounters with Presidents Johnson and Nixon to powwows with Chairman Mao. Go with Forrest to Harvard University, to a Hollywood movie set, on a professional wrestling tour, and into space on the oddest NASA mission ever.
The wonderfully warm, savagely barbed, and hilariously funny novel that inspired the…
At its heart a tragic comedy, Littlethumb Sneezed follows the extraordinary life of prolific artist and philanthropist, Littlethumb Brooks. From the discovery of his artistic gifts as a child to his reemergence as an adult, this story presents a different type of hero. A hero driven by empathy, humor, and artistic endeavors, buoyed by the personal strength to survive all of the sadness this world can muster.
While taking a satirical ride through popular culture, Littlethumb Sneezed examines its characters at their most basic human levels. These are people we all know, put on display with satire and love, as the tale culminates in great tragedy and an extraordinary act of forgiveness.
I once saw a play at the renowned Oregon Shakespeare Theatre. A play about Sor Juana. It was a good play, but it felt like something was missing like jalapenos left out of enchiladas. The play kept nudging me to look further to find Sor Juana, and so for the next five years, I did so. I read and read more. I listened for her voice, and that is where I heard her life come alive. This isn’t the only possibility for Sor Juana’s life; it is just the one I heard.
Sor Juana Ines de la Cruz, this brilliant 17th century nun flew through Mexico City on the breeze of poetry and philosophy. She met with princes of the Church, and with the royalty of Spain and Mexico. Then she met a stunning, powerful woman with lavender eyes, la Vicereine Maria Louisa, and her life changed forever. As her fame grew, she dared to challenge the diabolical Archbishop once too often, and he threw her in front of the Inquisition, where she stood, alone.
Sor Juana's work is studied still today, and justifiably so. Scholars study her months on end; mystics…
This astonishingly brilliant 17th century poet and dramatist, this nun, flew through Mexico City on wings of inspiration. Having no dowry, she chose the life of a nun so that she might learn, so that she might write, so that she might meet the most fascinating people of the western world. She accomplished all of that, and more.
One day a woman with violet eyes, eyes the color of passion flowers, entered her life. It was the new Vicereine, Maria Luisa. As the two most powerful women in Mexico City, the bond between them crossed politics and wound them in…
