Request for Stress

I am going through a stressful time - my husband has been diagnosed with prostate cancer - and I really need light-hearted, pleasurable, witty books to read. I've read most of Wodehouse, Stella Gibbons, a lot of academic satire (but not all) . . . and I need to be able to access this material on Kindle.

urania

I'm so sorry to hear. I hope treatment goes well, and I wish you and your husband comfort and strength.

Normally I'd pop up with Straight Man and Honor Tracy's The Straight and Narrow Path (a funny, Wodehouse-esque little romp), but I know you've read the former, and the latter's not available on Kindle.

Hm... since you don't have these in your library, let me just throw them out there: To Say Nothing of the Dog by Connie Willis, A Room With a View (Forster), Richard Russo's Nobody's Fool. You've probably read all three. :) I'll think on this some more.

I'm also very sorry to hear this news, Mary. I've been looking for the past 10 minutes, but the only book I could find so far that is available on Kindle and not in your library is White Teeth by Zadie Smith, but I'm not sure if this is your cup of tea or not.

Gentlemen of the Road, Michael Chabon, swashbuckler,
Rumpole of the Bailey, John Mortimer,
Proust and the Squid, Maryanne Wolf, nonfic neuroscience and reading.
Three Men in a Boat, Jerome K Jerome
The Dog Who Wouldn’t Be, Farley Mowat, growing up in rural Canada.
The Bad Quarto, Jill Paton Walsh (academic mystery in the style of Dorothy Sayers)
To Say Nothing of the Dog, Connie Willis (time travel referencing Three Men in a Boat)
Reginald Hill*, A Cure for all Diseases, epistolary homage to Austen’s unfinished Sanditon, but just one episode in a long series of Dalziel and Pascoe detectives.
The Grand Sophy, Georgette Heyer
The Women in Black, Madeleine St.John, recently rereleased social commentary on an Australian ladies dress department of the sixties – flashes of urbane wit.
The Undomestic Goddess, Sophie Kinsella. I used to read the Aussie version of The Wall St Journal, so this was funny for me, could be just appalling for others.

ETA: *Pictures of Perfection was my favourite. It's lighter than most mysteries.

Kerry Greenwood's Phryne Fisher mysteries are very light. Set in the 1920's, with cocktails, fabulous gowns and her own Lagonda, try Murder on the Ballarat Train.

You might find some of these on Kindle.

Urania,
Have you read any Anthony Burgess? I particularly recommend the Enderby series, and Earthly Powers for a humorous and thought provoking read. I don't know if they are available on Kindle, but a good library should carry them.

I wish you and your hubby strength.

Hugs.
Murr

I'm so sorry about the news. I'm wishing the best for you both.

How about a bit of Patricia Highsmith--short stories, Ripley books, or other mysteries?

Or some of Anne Tyler's books are comfie reads.

Dear urania1,

I don't have any book suggestions, but I just want to say, to you and your husband, "kia kaha" - be strong.

With best wishes to both of you,
Tim

Urania, lots of good wishes for your husband.

Normally, like Medellia, I would have recommended The Straight and Narrow Path (and I'm thrilled to find someone else who loves this book!), but it is sadly out of print.

If you would venture from the humorous into mysteries, as arubabookwoman suggests, you could try the Hillary Tamar series by Sarah Caudwell; these books are witty and satiric but, alas, I don't think they're available on the Kindle.

Also Jane Smiley's academic satire, Moo (rats! also not on Kindle).

I know this may seem counterintuitive, but have you thought about absorbinglong, historical novels that take you into a different era? When my father was hospitalized, and it was shortly after the 9/11 attacks, I dove into War and Peace. I found it very helpful to be somewhere else entirely.

Mary, my sympathies, that's really hard. I see you've got some Jasper Fforde - don't know if you've read all the Thursday Next or even if you liked them, but most of his books are on Kindle.

Sarah Vowell's essays are rather funny and some of the collections are available on Kindle.

Mary -- lots of suggestions here, hope you find something that does the trick. I'm sure this is really tough right now, but from all I know about prostrate cancer, it seems mostly manageable. Best of luck and many good wishes floating your way!

Our thoughts will be with you, Mary, as you two work through the next weeks and months. How about some short fiction? I just started a collection by Ali Smith and the first story was delightful. And it is okay not to read for awhile, you know.

Flanders and Swans wonderfully witty 60s British revue, At the Drop of a Hat and At the Drop of another hat ARE available and very consoling.

The Best of Flanders & Swan - A Transport of Delight
http://www.amazon.com/Best-Flanders-Swan-Transport-Delight/dp/B000026LBT/ref=sr_...

if you're not familiar w/ F&S you probably still would recognize "mud, mud glorious mud"

Alas, alack, a lass. Either I have read the aforementioned books or else they are unavailable on Kindle. I did break down and order a hard copy of The Straight and Narrow Path.

I do not have any suggestions (I am reading Don Quixote right now and it is stuck in my head as a good one), but I am wishing you both the best.

Urania, why don't you reread The Name of the Rose? I remember you said once that reading it put you in a state of bliss.

I agree with Rebecca that reading a long historical novel is a good paliative sometimes.

Best wishes to you both.
Murr

Mary,

I can't remember whether you said you had read Calvino. Not light, but a light touch, amusing and philosophical at the same time. Mr. Palomar As usual I have no idea if it is available on Kindle.

The Poet's Occasional Alternative

by Grace Paley

I was going to write a poem
I made a pie instead it took
about the same amount of time
of course the pie was a final
draft a poem would have had some
distance to go days and weeks and
much crumpled paper

the pie already had a talking
tumbling audience among small
trucks and a fire engine on
the kitchen floor

everybody will like this pie
it will have apples and cranberries
dried apricots in it many friends
will say why in the world did you
make only one

this does not happen with poems

because of unreportable
sadnesses I decided to
settle this morning for a re-
sponsive eatership I do not
want to wait a week a year a
generation for the right
consumer to come along

Urania - i just read this, I'm sorry to hear your news. I've not got a good idea of what you'd welcome and what you've not read, John Irving comes to mind for some reason, I've only read Owen Meaney, amusing yet serious also.

I see that Voltaire's Candide is indeed available on Kindle. Might be just amusing enough?