Links to the humor/satire works by other authors (besides P. G. Wodehouse) covered in this section:
Books Short Stories
Commentary:
Since the works of P. G. Wodehouse are covered in a separate section, this section covers the humorous/satirical works by other authors. Excluding the work of the dominant writer of humor in the 20th century leaves slim pickings to choose from, but nevertheless I have tried my best to compile a selection of novels and short stories by other authors which are representative of this genre.
Some of the works listed here are less light-hearted than Wodehouse’s works and more in the line of satire or dark humor. There is a fine line between comedy and tragedy, and in some stories (especially those which are satirical) it is hard to distinguish one from the other. In general, I have tried to select stories which have at least some element of humor, dark or otherwise.
Some of the best practitioners of the art of comedy writing (besides Wodehouse) were Mark Twain, Saki, Ring Lardner, Richard Gordon, Henry Cecil and Douglas Adams. Some of them specialized in novels about a particular profession (Gordon for medicine and Cecil for law), while others specialized in short stories (Saki and Lardner). And of course Mark Twain is recognized as one of the greatest American humorists ever: I have selected some of his comic novels and short stories, though not all of his fiction was written in a humorous vein.
Some prominent authors who made their names in different genres also made occasional forays into humorous short stories, among them Edgar Allan Poe, Nathaniel Hawthorne, W. Somerset Maugham, Isaac Asimov, and even the thriller writers Alistair MacLean and Frederick Forsyth.
The entire collection of novels and short stories for all the various authors put together is a lot smaller than the corresponding collection for P. G. Wodehouse, which is a testament to the latter’s virtuosity in the field of comic fiction.