BOOKS THAT WILL MAKE YOU LAUGH OUT LOUD
The actual sound of a “lol” is dead silence or a small puff of air through the nostrils. In the 12 years I’ve been sending texts, I know this to be categorically true. Sometimes, when I’m watching a movie by myself, I’ll think, this is hilarious, without so much as a smirk.
It sounds vaguely psychopathic, but laughter is largely a social signal — we do it to connect and communicate with others. I laugh far more at a live comedy show, for example, than when I watch comedy clips online. When I’m alone, it takes something really funny to make me laugh out loud. When I do, it’s a delightfully strange experience.
For this season’s MR Book Club, I asked the Man Repeller team to think of a book that made them genuinely laugh out loud. Their list includes non-fiction essays by women.
Haley Nahman, Deputy Editor Amelia recommends You’ll Grow Out of It
Jessi Klein is smart, clever, and funny, and her work is thoughtful and touching. I sometimes felt “on the outside” as a young girl. It’s as if I missed some chapters on how to be a woman, or something. Jessi speaks eloquently to this feeling and to many of the trappings and expectations of womanhood, from wearing thongs to natural childbirth. I recommend the Terry Gross interview with her; that’s what piqued my interest.
When I see writers who I look up to talk about how much selfdoubt they experienced, I find it really reassuring. It gives me permission to think, “ Oh! Just because I feel self-doubt doesn’t meant I’m not supposed to be writing. Just because I hate what I’m writing does not mean that what I’m writing should be hated.”
BOOKS THAT WILL MAKE YOU LAUGH OUT LOUD
The actual sound of a “lol” is dead silence or a small puff of air through the nostrils. In the 12 years I’ve been sending texts, I know this to be categorically true. Sometimes, when I’m watching a movie by myself, I’ll think, this is hilarious, without so much as a smirk.
It sounds vaguely psychopathic, but laughter is largely a social signal — we do it to connect and communicate with others. I laugh far more at a live comedy show, for example, than when I watch comedy clips online. When I’m alone, it takes something really funny to make me laugh out loud. When I do, it’s a delightfully strange experience.
For this season’s MR Book Club, I asked the Man Repeller team to think of a book that made them genuinely laugh out loud. Their list includes non-fiction essays by women.
Haley Nahman, Deputy Editor Emily recommends Don’t Worry It Gets Worse
Synopsis that won’t give away the plot: A post-grad talks about the struggles of trying to find a job while living at home with her parents.
It’s the most relatable book I’ve come across in terms of being someone who a) had recently graduated college, b) was looking for a job, c) was living at home with her parents, and d) was swimming in student loan debt, all while being sarcastic and self-deprecating.
I love how real she is about being a broke student. Quote from the book: “A few years ago, I graduated college, diploma in one hand, margarita in the other, completely oblivious to the shit storm that was coming my way. Here’s a preview: becoming a living, breathing, job-having, bill-paying, responsible adult? Really fucking difficult.”
BOOKS THAT WILL MAKE YOU LAUGH OUT LOUD
The actual sound of a “lol” is dead silence or a small puff of air through the nostrils. In the 12 years I’ve been sending texts, I know this to be categorically true. Sometimes, when I’m watching a movie by myself, I’ll think, this is hilarious, without so much as a smirk.
It sounds vaguely psychopathic, but laughter is largely a social signal — we do it to connect and communicate with others. I laugh far more at a live comedy show, for example, than when I watch comedy clips online. When I’m alone, it takes something really funny to make me laugh out loud. When I do, it’s a delightfully strange experience.
For this season’s MR Book Club, I asked the Man Repeller team to think of a book that made them genuinely laugh out loud. Their list includes non-fiction essays by women.
Haley Nahman, Deputy Editor Nora recommends We’re Never Meeting in Real Life
The writing is just so sharp and vulnerable, it’s like a hilarious master class on how to tell a story. Irby is unflinchingly honest about the good and bad, and her razor-sharp observations make her very specific anecdotes universal. She is my standard for how generous a writer can be with her readers.
I started reading her blog Bitches Gotta Eat a million years ago and have been obsessed ever since. I stopped her on the street once! Her willingness to take things that most people would never tell a soul about and turn them into gold is pretty inspiring. Given that, it’s a series of non-fiction essays about love, sex, loss and publicly pooping. Buy this book, read it, and pass it on!
WE’RE NEVER MEETING IN REAL LIFE
BOOKS THAT WILL MAKE YOU LAUGH OUT LOUD
The actual sound of a “lol” is dead silence or a small puff of air through the nostrils. In the 12 years I’ve been sending texts, I know this to be categorically true. Sometimes, when I’m watching a movie by myself, I’ll think, this is hilarious, without so much as a smirk.
It sounds vaguely psychopathic, but laughter is largely a social signal — we do it to connect and communicate with others. I laugh far more at a live comedy show, for example, than when I watch comedy clips online. When I’m alone, it takes something really funny to make me laugh out loud. When I do, it’s a delightfully strange experience.
For this season’s MR Book Club, I asked the Man Repeller team to think of a book that made them genuinely laugh out loud. Their list includes non-fiction essays by women.
Haley Nahman, Deputy Editor Haley recommends And Now We Have Everything
Meaghan O’Connell and her fiance are living in New York and on the precipice of pursuing a bunch of personal goals — that definitely don’t involve a child — when she gets pregnant by accident. This book follows the journey from her boobs mysteriously hurting to her becoming the mother she didn’t feel ready to be.
I’ve been following Meaghan’s writing for a long time — from back when she was just posting on a Tumblr blog to when she started writing for tons of different online publications. Her Tinyletter newsletter is the only one I read consistently and right away. Her writing is hilarious, honest, insightful and also just plain good.
AND NOW WE HAVE EVERYTHING: ON MOTHERHOOD BEFORE I WAS READY
BOOKS THAT WILL MAKE YOU LAUGH OUT LOUD LOOK ALIVE OUT THERE
The actual sound of a “lol” is dead silence or a small puff of air through the nostrils. In the 12 years I’ve been sending texts, I know this to be categorically true. Sometimes, when I’m watching a movie by myself, I’ll think, this is hilarious, without so much as a smirk.
It sounds vaguely psychopathic, but laughter is largely a social signal — we do it to connect and communicate with others. I laugh far more at a live comedy show, for example, than when I watch comedy clips online. When I’m alone, it takes something really funny to make me laugh out loud. When I do, it’s a delightfully strange experience.
For this season’s MR Book Club, I asked the Man Repeller team to think of a book that made them genuinely laugh out loud. Their list includes non-fiction essays by women.
Haley Nahman, Deputy Editor Edith recommends Look Alive Out There
Why it made me laugh: Excerpts like, “In Chelsea, I lived above a piano player, who practiced scales. When I could stand it no longer, I sheepishly knocked on his door. He apologized and vowed never to practice scales in the house again. Which is how I wound up listening to ‘I’m a Yankee Doodle Dandy’ every day for a year.”
This is a compendium of amusing, and sometimes strange and serendipitous, snippets from Crosley’s experiences in New York City and beyond. I can’t recommend Look Alive Out There enough. Every essay is so spot-on. I have made my mom, sister, and multiple friends read it. I kept sneak-reading it at work until I had tears streaming down my cheeks — from laughing!
