Free summaries
Humour — page 7
633 public-domain humour books, summarised. Page 7 of 14.
Wise-crack dictionary
Unknown
A kaleidoscopic index of 1920s American vernacular, this collection captures the fleeting wit, cynicism, and social anxieties of a nation caught between the Great War and the Great Depression. It serves as a linguistic time capsule for a rapidly changing culture.
April Fools: A farce in one act for three male characters
W. F. Chapman
The victims of a elaborate prank find themselves entangled in a series of absurd misunderstandings, turning a quiet morning into a chaotic lesson on the dangers of taking letters at face value.
That Mother-in-Law of Mine
Anonymous
An uneasy groom, a formidable matriarch, and a household teetering on the edge of quiet domestic warfare.
Extracts from the Galactick Almanack: Music Around the Universe
Laurence M. Janifer
The universe is a stage for impossible harmonies, where the line between art and engineering blurs and musical genius often hides in the most unexpected—and sometimes monstrous—places.
Rabbits Have Long Ears
Lawrence F. Willard
An alien crew, fearful of discovery, misinterprets Earth’s radio broadcasts as warnings of a bloodthirsty, giant race. Their rigid reliance on a faulty computer turns a simple reconnaissance mission into a comedy of errors.
The Plagiarist From Rigel IV
Evan Hunter
A struggling writer buys a mysterious, dirt-cheap typewriter in a pawn shop, only to discover his new machine is a telepathic conduit for an alien tourist from a distant star system.
Bread Overhead
Fritz Leiber
When a corporate blunder replaces carbon dioxide with hydrogen gas in an ultra-processed bread mix, billions of loaves rise into the air and drift across the globe, sparking an international crisis and an unexpected wave of world peace.
Duty, and Other Irish Comedies
Seumas O'Brien
These sharp, witty one-act plays skewer the pretensions of rural Irish life, where local police, publicans, and schemers trade barbs and whiskey in a dance of perpetual, hollow posturing.
Fair to Look Upon
Mary Belle Freeley
A cheeky, lighthearted reappraisal of Old Testament heroines, framing biblical history as an unbroken tradition of feminine independence and male compliance.
Gravy Train
Daniel F. Galouye
A simple request for a bathroom appliance triggers an accidental cosmic aid war, burying a peaceful retiree’s planetoid under an avalanche of unwanted, galaxy-altering supplies.
The Mad Pranks of Tom Tram, Son-in-law to Mother Winter: To Which Are Added His Merry Jests, Odd Conceits, and Pleasant Tales
Crouch, Humphrey, active 1635-1671
A roguish, irrepressible trickster navigates a world of gullible townsfolk, peddlers, and petty authorities, leaving chaos and laughter in his wake through a series of increasingly elaborate deceptions.
Gambolling with Galatea: a Bucolic Romance
Curtis Dunham
A poet and his sister discover that country life is not merely a rustic retreat, but a complex, managed society where the livestock possess more personality—and agency—than the humans who tend them.
Satisfaction Guaranteed
Joy Leache
When a struggling corporate troubleshooter is sent to a remote planet, he finds that business solutions require more than just slogans—they require a sharp-witted stenographer.
The 4-D Doodler
Graph Waldeyer
A young man’s absent-minded sketches accidentally bridge the gap between our world and a higher, chaotic plane, bringing a terrifying, cosmic mimic into his laboratory. The result is a frantic struggle to survive a breach that threatens to turn the physical world inside out.
The Nurserymatograph
G. A. T. (George A. T.) Allan
A silent screen flickers to life, transforming nursery rhymes, academic subjects, and military routines into a series of breathless, chaotic film reels.
The Tyranny of Tears: A Comedy in Four Acts
C. Haddon (Charles Haddon) Chambers
A husband’s meek rebellion against his wife’s tearful dominance triggers a hilarious battle of wills inside a quietly chaotic Victorian study.
A Parody on Princess Ida
D. (Davison) Dalziel
An old comic opera finds new life when transformed into a brazen promotional vessel for a Midwestern railway line.
A Truthful Woman in Southern California
Kate Sanborn
A candid, practical guide from the late nineteenth century, this work serves as an essential manual for those seeking health and sunshine in the burgeoning settlements of Southern California.
Elbow-Room: A Novel Without a Plot
Charles Heber Clark
This collection of sketches captures the absurd, low-stakes friction of small-town life, where absent-minded inventors and stubborn neighbors collide with hilarious, innocent persistence. It serves as a refreshing reminder that the happiest man is often the one who knows how to laugh at the nonsense of existence.
Electro-episoded in A.D. 2025
E. D. Skinner
A alcohol-fueled dream of A.D. 2025 collapses into the cold, domestic reality of a Prohibition-era bedroom.
Master of None
Neil Goble
Finding a singular, well-rounded individual in a society defined by extreme specialization proves impossible for the government—until a park-dwelling philosopher accidentally qualifies for a mission to the stars.
Never: A Hand-Book for the Uninitiated and Inexperienced Aspirants to Refined Society's Giddy Heights and Glittering Attainments
Nathan Dane Urner
An absurd, razor-sharp satire of 1880s etiquette, this satirical handbook uses mock advice to expose the boorishness hiding just beneath gilded-age pretenses.
Problem on Balak
Roger D. Aycock
An isolated expedition team faces an agonizing biological puzzle on a world where every creature collaborates, and where distinguishing a human from his identical alien copy is the only ticket home.
The Changed Valentines, and Other Plays for St. Valentine's Day
Elizabeth F. (Elizabeth Frances) Guptill
A collection of short, Valentine-themed theatrical works presents mix-ups, delayed romances, and whimsical courtships with innocent humor.
Winsome Winnie and other New Nonsense Novels
Stephen Leacock
A sharp needle of satire punctures the absurdities of popular fiction, puncturing overblown romance, imperial anxieties, and detective cliches.
Following the Equator: A Journey Around the World. Part 6
Mark Twain
Sacred rivers, burning ghats, mountain railways, and terrifying statistical tables of snakebites fuse into a singular, sharp-eyed record of global travel.
Just Irish
Charles Battell Loomis
A cheerful American tourist braves torrential downpours and unexpected rail mishaps, recording the warmth, sharp wit, and changing political landscape of turn-of-the-century Ireland with an affectionate, observational lens.
Look out for paint: A farce comedy in three acts
Cornelius Shea
A bustling, rural farce of mistaken identities and matrimonial schemes, this play captures the frantic comic energy of a country household turned upside down by city boarders and a clever ruse.
The Seaside Sibyl
Anonymous
This collection serves as both a whimsical parlor game and a brazen advertisement for nineteenth-century patent medicines, blending lighthearted fortune-telling verse with the hard-sell tactics of a chemist.
Cinderella Story
Allen Kim Lang
A secretary uncovers a bizarre conspiracy involving earmuffs, counterfeit bills, and a hidden race of alien arachnids beneath a seemingly mundane big-city bank.
Garrity's Annuities
David Mason
A space engineer devises a meticulous, cynical plan to secure his retirement by marrying a different woman on every planet he visits. He does not realize that his first wife has already turned his scheme into an elaborate trap.
In Honour Bound: An Original Play, in One Act.: (Suggested by Scribe's Five Act Comedy, "Une Chaine.")
Sydney Grundy
A high-stakes social comedy of errors, this play examines the suffocating weight of past mistakes and the quiet courage required to start anew.
Lively plays for live people
Thomas S. (Thomas Stewart) Denison
These lighthearted, fast-paced plays offer a window into the popular theatrical tastes of late 19th-century America, where farce and melodrama provided a lively escape for community performers and their audiences.
Punchinello, Volume 1, No. 15, July 9, 1870
Various
This collection serves as a vibrant, satirical time capsule, capturing the restless wit and commercial energy of post-Civil War New York through a mix of burlesque serials, sharp political commentary, and period advertising.
A tin cup trophy
W. C. (Wilbur C.) Tuttle
A trio of hapless Montana cowboys volunteer to guide three urban women on a big-game hunt, only to find themselves ambushed by fake treasure maps, stray livestock, and an unexpected herd of domestic goats.
Con-Fen
James R. Adams
An invisible, bumbling pair of Martians descends upon Chicago for a holiday, blissfully unaware that their presence is only masked by the collective disbelief of the humans around them. Their vacation ends abruptly when they stumble into the middle of a science fiction convention.
Graham's Magazine, Vol. XXX, No. 2, February 1847
Various
This collection offers a vibrant, eclectic snapshot of 19th-century American literary culture, blending serialized fiction, poetry, and social commentary into a single, polished monthly package.
Hold Onto Your Body!
Richard O. Lewis
The world is full of fragile vessels, and for those who know how to look, a human life is merely a temporary housing arrangement waiting for a new tenant.
The rogue waveform
R. W. (Ralph Walter) Stockheker
A professional wrestler famous for his villainous persona discovers that the secret to his success is a measurable, repulsive energy—until a meddling scientist accidentally turns him into the most beloved man on Earth. This swift, satirical farce explores the fragility of identity and the thin, vibrating line…
The Bicyclers and Three Other Farces
John Kendrick Bangs
A lighthearted collection of turn-of-the-century comedies, these plays offer a witty, satirical glimpse into the domestic anxieties and social posturing of the American middle class.
The Merry Devil of Edmonton
Unknown
A clever student uses magic and quick thinking to rescue a sweet pair of lovers from their fathers’ greedy marital plots in this lively Elizabethan comedy.
Polite Satires: Containing The Unknown Hand, The Volcanic Island, Square Pegs
Clifford Bax
A light-hearted triquetra of verse comedies, Clifford Bax’s collection plays upon the universal longing for another identity, another era, or a more dramatic version of oneself, only to return its heroines to the present with a smile.
A Hitch in Space
Fritz Leiber
In the lonely reaches of the Shaula system, a technician finds himself trapped outside his own ship while his partner’s deteriorating mind plays a dangerous game. This is a story of silent terror and the fragile architecture of the human psyche.
On Our Selection
Steele Rudd
A family clears a patch of wild Australian bush, building a life out of slab timber, dirt floors, and stubborn resolve.
Punch, or the London Charivari, January 5th, 1895
Various
A gentle satire on fin-de-siècle British life, this issue captures a changing society through playful verse, parliamentary parody, and theatrical critique.
Punchinello, Volume 2, No. 32, November 5, 1870
Various
This nineteenth-century American humor periodical delivers a sharp, theatrical snapshot of Reconstruction-era urban satire, blending parodies of popular literature with barbed commentary on Gilded Age society, politics, and press rivalries.
Two fares east
W. C. (Wilbur C.) Tuttle
The lawless Tumbling River range holds more secrets than its dusty trails suggest, and two drifters arrive just in time to untangle a web of greed and false accusations.
Unborn Tomorrow
Mack Reynolds
A hungover detective takes on a strange client, only to discover that the only thing a man can bring back from the future is an agonizingly compounded hangover.