Can anyone recommend any funny novels about government and politics?

December 27, 2008 2:20 PM

Can anyone recommend any funny novels about government and politics?

I just got done reading The Mezzanine by Nicholson Baker, a witty, funny, and light-hearted short novel about the life of a modern day office worker. I thought the concept was pretty nifty and am wondering if there are more books that are similar in scope -- something with witty and humorous moments though also serious when needed, perhaps something epic like 1984 or smaller -- with the setting taking place in some political environment. Would anyone be kind enough to give some suggestions?

posted by Myles to writing & language (31 comments total)

"Catch-22", of course. It's about a war, but it's mostly about the idiocy of bureaucracies.
posted by Chocolate Pickle at 2:28 PM on December 27, 2008

The books derived from the "Yes Minister" TV show might be worth a look, though might be lacking your serious interludes....
posted by Rumple at 2:32 PM on December 27, 2008 [2 favorites has favorites]

Heller's Good as Gold might be more relevant than Catch-22.
posted by Knappster at 2:35 PM on December 27, 2008 [2 favorites has favorites]

You can try Jennifer Government.
posted by mhz at 2:47 PM on December 27, 2008 [1 favorite has favorites]

Primary Colors is a roman à clef ... inspired by U.S. President Bill Clinton's first presidential campaign in 1992. While many characters and events in the novel are based on reality, much of the book is fictional. The book centers on Henry Burton, a black campaign aide for southern governor Jack Stanton (thought to represent Bill Clinton). [text from the wiki page]
posted by carsonb at 2:52 PM on December 27, 2008

Christopher Buckley is best known for "Thank You For Smoking," but the rest of his political satires are pretty funny, too.
posted by ecmendenhall at 2:57 PM on December 27, 2008 [1 favorite has favorites]

Animal Farm
posted by quarantine at 3:06 PM on December 27, 2008

Looking Forward to It: Or, How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love the American Electoral Process

If you never read HST, you'll probably find it enjoyable... for anyone who read Great Shark Hunt era HST, you'll find Stephen Elliott's attempt at gonzo journalism very annoying and amateurish.

Which is why should read it before you read Great Shark Hunt - which is a dense collection of HST's political writings that cover everything from Nixon to the LAPD murder of Latino journalist Rubin Salazar. A high water mark of the form to be sure...
posted by wfrgms at 3:19 PM on December 27, 2008 [1 favorite has favorites]

The People's Choice by Jeff Greenfield. It's out of print, but available used from Amazon and Half (Half also has paperback available).
posted by likedoomsday at 4:05 PM on December 27, 2008

If you have a dark sense of humor, Robert Coover's The Public Burning is highly esteemed - though "difficult".
posted by Joe Beese at 4:11 PM on December 27, 2008

Superstoe by William Borden
posted by fixedgear at 4:14 PM on December 27, 2008

Buckley's Thank You For Smoking is the best satire of DC I've read - immensely clever and very very funny, especially if you have put in any time in that world. I found his others disappointing, but keep buying them because I keep hoping he'll hit that high again.
posted by CunningLinguist at 4:19 PM on December 27, 2008 [2 favorites has favorites]

DIstraction, SFish political satire by Bruce Sterling.
posted by Artw at 4:28 PM on December 27, 2008

Windy City, by Scott Simon
posted by Carol Anne at 4:36 PM on December 27, 2008

"The books derived from the "Yes Minister" TV show might be worth a look, though might be lacking your serious interludes...."

I dropped in to recommend the same. Consider that seconded.
posted by nthdegx at 4:37 PM on December 27, 2008

The Mouse that Roared by Leonard Wibberley. If you didn't like the Peter Sellers movie, don't be put off -- the book is almost completely different. It's a light mid-century-flavoured read, with a tangy dash of atomica nervosa.
posted by Sallyfur at 4:58 PM on December 27, 2008 [1 favorite has favorites]

First that came to mind is The first circle by Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn.

Russian scientists in a gulag working on a top secret encryption project. Brilliantly written and describes the tedium, stupidity and evil of bureaucracy.
posted by monocultured at 5:11 PM on December 27, 2008

2nding mhz's vote for Jennifer Govt.
posted by computech_apolloniajames at 5:32 PM on December 27, 2008

Since you've mentioned 1984, I think you might enjoy Burmese Days. Orwell's trademark biting humor is on full display.
posted by LuckySeven~ at 7:16 PM on December 27, 2008

nthing Jennifer Government.
posted by asciident at 8:00 PM on December 27, 2008

Funny on small-scale government level: Hartsburg USA by David Mizner.
posted by dlugoczaj at 9:38 PM on December 27, 2008

as asciident posted, Jennifer Government.
one of my favorite books.
posted by nickthetourist at 10:28 PM on December 27, 2008

Fear and Loathing on the Campaign Trail '72 - if HST doesn't get you laughing about politics, probably no one will.
posted by caddis at 10:31 PM on December 27, 2008

Billy Lee Brammer's The Gay Place and Robert Penn Warren's All The King's Men are mid-20th century classics.
posted by goo at 6:40 AM on December 28, 2008

Being There by Jerzy Kosinski
posted by applemeat at 6:50 AM on December 28, 2008 [1 favorite has favorites]

Philip Roth's Our Gang is very funny. It was written about Nixon but will remain relevant as long as people still pay attention to Henry Kissinger.
posted by A Thousand Baited Hooks at 8:05 AM on December 28, 2008

Seconding the satire of Christopher Buckley. It's a hoot.
posted by dzot at 9:14 AM on December 28, 2008

The Woody by Peter Lefcourt is a political novel, and also one of the funniest books I've ever read.

Seconding all the other suggestions above
posted by reenum at 9:49 AM on December 28, 2008

Probably more grim than witty, but American Tabloid is very good.

I couldn't get into the Cold Six Thousand at all though.
posted by Artw at 10:02 AM on December 28, 2008

I haven't read the novel, but the BBC TV series House of Cards is unbeatable.
posted by SamuelBowman at 3:07 PM on December 28, 2008

The Queen and I, Number 10, and Queen Camilla by Sue Townsend.
posted by lukemeister at 4:50 PM on December 28, 2008