John Kendrick Bangs (1862-1922) was born in Yonkers, New York, and is known for his work as an author, editor, and satirist. He worked for "Life," a number of "Harper's" periodicals, and "Puck," perhaps the foremost American humour magazine of its day. In "Alice in Blunderland: An Iridescent Dream"-first published in 1907-Bangs makes light of a range of economic issues familiar to his readers-these are quite topical and all-too familiar to today's reader as well. High taxes, corporate greed, bribery, institutional corruption, and governmental incompetence are amongst the themes of the book. Bangs' "Alice in Blunderland" relies more on absurdity than it does on nonsense, and some of the humour is indeed rather American. But Bangs' success is to make his reader smile wryly rather than laugh out loud-for his satire is very much on target.

What if...William Shakespeare had written "The Big Lebowski"?
The Dude has met the Bard--and he doth abide.
Join "The Knave" and Sir Walter on a wild tale of mistaken identity, kidnapping, bowling, and a rug that, in faith, really tied the room together--in a sidesplitting Shakespearean comedy of errors and ninepins, told in five glorious acts of iambic pentameter and impeccable period prose.
Already a theatrical hit and a worldwide viral phenomenon, "Two Gentlemen of Lebowski "comes alive anew in this definitive and lavishly illustrated edition, featuring recently discovered historical engravings, scholarly annotations, and a revelatory afterword from the author.

When you like, live forever, what's there to live for? 'About three things I was absolutely certain. First, Edwart was most likely my soul mate, maybe. Second, there was a vampire part of him - which I assumed was wildly out of his control - that wanted me dead. And third, I unconditionally, irrevocably, impenetrably, heterogeneously, gynecologically, and disreputably wished he had kissed me.' And thus Belle Goose falls in love with the mysterious and sparkly Edwart Mullen in this hilarious send-up of Twilight. Pale and klutzy, Belle arrives in Switchblade, Oregon looking for adventure, or at least an undead classmate. She soon discovers Edwart, a super-hot computer nerd with zero interest in girls. After witnessing a number of strange events - Edwart leaves his hash browns untouched at lunch! - he saves her from a flying snowball and Belle has a dramatic revelation: Edwart is a vampire. But how can she convince Edwart to bite her and transform her into his eternal bride, especially when he seems to find girls so repulsive? Complete with romance, danger, insufficient parental guardianship, creepy stalker-like behaviour, and a vampire prom, Nightlight is the hysterical tale of a vampire-obsessed girl, looking for love in all the wrong places.

Can anything be poetic in the politicking of Washington, D.C.? Is there poetry in the morning's headlines and in tonight's news tickers? Or, as Seely paraphrases Dr. Seuss, Do W's troubles trouble you, too? America's pundit poet laureate, the man who channeled the poetry of Donald Rumsfeld and Phil Rizzuto, now offers the perfect metaphor for the inside-the-beltway bubble: it's a nursery. Using the beneficent spirit of Mother Goose, he has fashioned hilarious nursery rhymes hidden amid the photo ops and filibustering. "John Kerry backed Iraq, John Kerry took it back," making him "a very airy, wary hara-kiri." Bill Bennett, "independent, Kept a hidden secret muse. He would clutch his lucky pendant, Praying, 'Papa needs new shoes!'" As for Iraq, "When you lose, you lose, and when you win, you win, and when you can't tell win from lose, best stop the war you're in." No one is safe from Seely's wicked muse: Hillary Clinton, John McCain, Barack Obama, Mitt Romney, virtually every news anchor, and a good portion of the Hollywood elite are skewered unforgettably by Seely's Mother Goosequills in this irreverent and hilarious collection.

From the founding editor of The Idler, the celebrated magazine about the freedom and fine art of doing nothing, comes not simply a book, but an antidote to our work-obsessed culture. In How to Be Idle, Tom Hodgkinson presents his learned yet whimsical argument for a new universal standard of living: being happy doing nothing. He covers a whole spectrum of issues affecting the modern idler--sleep, work, pleasure, relationships--while reflecting on the writing of such famous apologists for it as Oscar Wilde, Robert Louis Stevenson, and Nietzsche--all of whom have admitted to doing their very best work in bed.

"As I Lay Dieting". "Abstinence! Abstinence!" "Lite in August". Contestants who entered the Faulkner Write-Alike Contest were encouraged to "pound in fury" at their keyboards to write the best bad Faulkner they could. For those who love good parody and those who love good Faulkner--here is the best of both worlds. Black-and-white caricatures throughout.

"Nothing has driven home a certain truth about my generation, which is approaching the apex of its childbearing years, quite like this."
--"The New Yorker"
"A parenting zeitgeist"
--"Washington Post"
"A hilarious take on that age-old problem: getting the beloved child to go to sleep."
--National Public Radio
"A new Bible for weary parents"
--"New York Times"
"Resonates powerfully with almost everyone"
--"Boston Globe"
""Go the F*** to Sleep" challenges stereotypes, opens up prototypes, and acknowledges that shared sense of failure that comes to all parents who weary of ever getting their darling(s) to sleep and briefly resuming the illusion of a life of their own."
--"Midwest Book Review"
"Go the F*** to Sleep" is a bedtime book for parents who live in the real world, where a few snoozing kitties and cutesy rhymes don't always send a toddler sailing blissfully off to dreamland. Profane, affectionate, and radically honest, California Book Award-winning author Adam Mansbach's verses perfectly capture the familiar--and unspoken--tribulations of putting your little angel down for the night. In the process, they open up a conversation about parenting, granting us permission to admit our frustrations, and laugh at their absurdity.
With illustrations by Ricardo Cortes, "Go the F*** to Sleep" is beautiful, subversive, and pants-wettingly funny--a book for parents new, old, and expectant. You probably should not read it to your children.
"Seriously, Just Go to Sleep, " a children's book inspired by "Go the F*** to Sleep" and appropriate for kids of all ages, is forthcoming from Akashic Books in April 2012 and available NOW for pre-order.

It's closing time at the brewery. While the moon rises, the brewery crew-including three little otters (in charge of the water), a wort hog, and a hops wildebeest-introduce us to the brewing equipment, ingredients, and styles of beer. Join this fanciful crew as they close down for the evening and say goodnight to the brew kettle, barley and yeast, hops and mash, saison, porter, IPA, and much more. Befuddled about beer ingredients? Puzzled about the brew process? Can't remember the difference between an ale and a lager? Don't miss the brew infographics that follow the story! This humorous parody of a children's literature classic is a "pitcher book" for grown-ups. It's a besotted bedtime story for beer lovers everywhere!

He calls me into his office and closes the door . . . to promote me. He promotes me again and again. I am wild with ecstasy. Imagine a world where all erotica was written by feminists: Their daydreams include equal pay, a gender-balanced Congress, and Tom Hardy arriving at their doorstep to deliver a fresh case of LaCroix every week. Both light-hearted and empowering, New Erotica for Feminists-based off of the viral McSweeney's piece of the same name-is a sly, satirical take on all the things that turn feminists on. From a retelling of Adam and Eve to tales of respectful Tinder dates, New Erotica for Feminists answers the question of "What do women really want?" with stories of power, equality, and an immortal Ruth Bader Ginsburg.

Young, arrogant tycoon Earl Grey seduces the naive coed Anna Steal with his overpowering good looks and staggering amounts of money, but will she be able to get past his fifty shames, including shopping at Walmart on Saturdays, bondage with handcuffs, and his love of BDSM (Bards, Dragons, Sorcery, and Magick)? Or will his dark secrets and constant smirking drive her over the edge?

A manifestation journal for actually going after your biggest f*cking future When was the last time you had a big f*cking dream? Seriously. When was the last time you had an off-the-wall, pie-in-the-sky, reach for the stars kind of dream? Can you picture it in your head right now? So why is it still only a dream? When you hear the word manifestation you may think of charging crystals, rising signs, and psychic readings. F*ck that. Manifestation is a no-bullsh*t way to get the life you've always wanted. It's for the dreamers, the doers, and every person ready to take charge of their own damn futures. If you're an ambitious bad*ss, a perpetual go-getter, someone who wants to carpe the f*ck out of every damn diem—then this journal is for you. With concrete exercises that redefine what it means to go after your future, Big F*cking Dreams is a positive self-help book for women looking to: Be thankful for the sh*t you have—the perfect gratitude journal to reevaluate your present giftsAttract the sh*t you want—understand the law of attraction with affirmations, self-care tips, meditation, and more.Embrace the bad*ss you are—because there isn't a big old future without some self-love in the mixAnd dream bigger than you ever f*cking believed—get ready to work for those big goalsWith guided prompts, sweary sayings, and an empowering AF attitude, this is the perfect journal for readers who are ready to take their futures into their own hands. The ideal spiritual gift for women, goals journal, or guided journal to get you through, this book will get you to stand up and declare, "I am going to go after my biggest f*cking dreams!"

'The perfect antidote to 2020' Huffington Post 'A must-read if you like funny things' Greg James 'I had no idea Pat Sharp's life story would be so hilarious and I strongly suspect neither did he' Nish Kumar Pat Sharp is a man out of time. For those of a certain generation, he is an iconic figure synonymous with good fun, great hair and excess gunge. For others, he's just that bloke with a mullet. Fame is a fickle beast and, since the cancellation of Fun House in 1999 ('Just ten years into its run, when it was finally finding its feet'), Pat has become a reclusive figure, only emerging from his splendid isolation to pop up on things like I'm A Celebrity: Get Me Out Of Here, Never Mind the Buzzcocks and Come Dine with Me. Until now. With time on his hands and now reliant on a faulty memory, Pat has expertly blended fact and . . . fiction: revealing all about his adventures with David Hassselhoff at the Berlin Wall in 1989; how he broke up a fight between Damon Albarn and Liam Gallagher at a house party; the time he suggested Geri's dress be a Union Jack; and much more. A definitive work (based on very little fact) that anatomises the cultural trends of the '80s and '90s, Re-run the Fun is just the kind of sorta-biography we need in these turbulent times. Finally, the Great British public can learn what life is like just about in sight of the top - the highs, the lows and the hair tips. 'It's easy to forget, as I had, that Pat Sharp is so much more than an iconic haircut and a helter-skelter - and this well overdue book goes into hilarious, largely-fabricated detail about Pat's critical role in shaping our world today' Rick Edwards 'No previous knowledge of Pat Sharp is required' Paul Sinha

"This hugely entertaining pack of lies reads like a Woody Allen essay from the New Yorker." David Pitt, Booklist Is Chris Elliott a highly successful and beloved comedian or a slightly dim-witted notalent from a celebrity family who managed to convince a generation of disillusioned youth that he was funny? From a ghastly childhood on the posh Upper East Side to his first job entertaining mobsters with his Judy Garland impersonation, The Guy Under the Sheets is packed with countless episodes from the life of a mediocre artist who somehow faked his way to the top of semi-moderate fame and fortune. Woven throughout the fictional fun in Elliott's memoir are wonderful real-life anecdotes that will delight many new readers and loyal fans alike. "The arc of [Elliott's] career remains unique and inspiring . . . that he blazed a trail for Arrested Development and Community and all the other freaky, convention-flouting TV comedies." Grantland"

Volume II of the exclusive behind-the-scenes diaries of one of Ireland's most hard-working politicians ... Another hilarious account of local politics from Pat Shortt's legendary creation, the esteemed Councillor Maurice Hickey. The sequel to the popular I will in me Politics which was a runaway success - features a host of hilarious and recognisable characters.