You read the short texts and think you’re reading a comedy, but then you turn the book over and realize it’s a dark campus novel about five aspiring writers struggling to fall in love, deal with their trauma, and get to class on time.

So where was the comic fiction?

Now you might say, “There’s a humor section in literally every bookstore. Why don’t you start there, detective?” Have you ever been in a humor section? It’s full of the most contrived and unfunny stuff you can find. And it’s mostly nonfiction books like…

A Stoic Guide to Plant Ownership

Scott Morrison’s 300 gym jokes

An anthology of Australia’s best racist cartoons

4000 jokes about unemployed fathers

Until death farts us: How to have a successful marriage

That’s Not a Knife: A Larrikin’s Guide to Australian Humor

At this point I would like to pause and assure everyone that I do not question the quality or comedic value of any writing. I would be happy if my writing resonated in this sweet, sweet humor space.

If you think there hasn’t been a funny novel since PG Wodehouse was published Exactly, Jeeves In 1934, that’s fine. If you think The song of the crayfish is the funniest book you’ve ever read, that’s none of my business. And maybe you find racist cartoons hilarious. That’s not great, but I’m not here to police anyone’s sense of humor. What I’m saying is that there are very few books that intentionally try to be funny. And if there are such books, nobody knows about them.

Confession time. As discussed, I wrote a comedic novel. Some (very humorless and out of touch with reality) people (who are dead inside) might not find it funny. But my intention was to write a story that would make people laugh. Well, the laughs come from very dark, very uncomfortable circumstances, while dealing with “serious” topics like grief, racism, male body dysmorphia, and mental illness. But that’s what makes me laugh. I don’t know what to tell you.

So I filled my book with as many jokes as I could. It’s a satire of early 2000s Hollywood, so I came up with hundreds of movie and TV titles and tried very hard to balance the comedy with the sadness. But for me, the greater achievement is if it makes people laugh. As Judd Apatow said, “It’s not hard to make people cry. Kill a dog.”

I have read many sad books, but the funny ones have stuck in my memory the most. A confederation of fools, Fear and terror in Las Vegas, Wake up, sir! … The only time I cried from laughter was when reading David Sedaris’ NakedIt was a true gift for which I will be eternally grateful.

In researching my book, I not only dug deep into my soul for truth and justice, but also examined other comic novels, new and classic, especially satirical ones. I came across many of the usual suspects – famous books that I already knew, often because they had been adapted into films or television series.

The sell-off by Paul Beatty, Catch-22 by Joseph Heller, Cold comfort farm by Stella Gibbons, Fewer by Andrew Sean Greer, American Psycho by Bret Easton Ellis, The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy by Douglas Adams, Happy Jim by Kingsley Amis.

Humor is never taken seriously, even though it is literally the only thing that matters in this short, brutal existence.

Certain authors have been repeatedly cited as authors of comic fiction: Philip Roth, Kurt Vonnegut, Terry Pratchett, Nathanael West, Nora Ephron, Carl Hiaasen, Evelyn Waugh, Mark Twain, Steve Toltz, Marian Keyes. (I know there are a lot of white people on these lists. But that’s a topic for another time.)

But there were many more. People and books I had never heard of. I felt like an ignorant person. But am I alone? What funny books do you know? How many can you think of? I just listed a whole bunch – do you remember any of them? I don’t, so I just wrote them all down.

So why does it feel like there aren’t many comic novels out there? (Or at least not that people have heard of anymore.) Well, they may be hard to sell. Maybe comedy is more subjective than straight drama – people laugh at different things, but they cry at the same things. Publishers have a hard enough time getting people to notice their crime thrillers, many of which people buy, without trying to sell something funny.

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There may also be a stigma problem, as comedy is not given any artistic respect whatsoever. Humor is never taken seriously, even though it is literally the only thing that matters in this short, brutal life. Writers seeking that kind of validation and dignity may therefore not be encouraged to get into the comic business. Benjamin Stevenson, for example, was initially afraid that he would not be taken seriously if he wrote funny crime novels. If you really do live a funny life, you probably won’t aim for writing novels. Maybe try stand-up comedy or television first.

Another theory is that the novel’s format is too long to practically allow for what would traditionally be called a comedy. It’s too intense, so it needs to be made complex and mixed with tragedy. But a healthy mix of funny and sad wouldn’t stop a story from being classified as a comedy. It would just add depth.

For me, it boils down to the fact that comedy is always hard to write, and that’s especially true in books. For most writers, developing and maintaining a compelling comedic tone for 350 pages is a huge challenge. But not for me. I’m extraordinarily talented. Almost absurdly talented.

Writing funny lyrics is hard. But that doesn’t mean we shouldn’t try. So much of the world is utter chaos and depravity. Moral failure. Disaster and collapse. We see it every day. What could be more valuable than making people laugh?

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In Preston Sturges’ film Sullivan’s Travels (1941), a Hollywood comedy director lives as a tramp to explore the seriousness of life and to add seriousness to his new film. While living among the downtrodden, he sees that they want to laugh more than anything else, so he returns to comedy.

It’s extremely powerful and possibly the most compelling and moving summation of the value of comedy that I’ve ever seen. Isn’t that what we all want? A brief respite from the darkness? Why can’t it come in book form?

Now comes the “To Be Sure” comment moment, where I feel compelled – compelled! – to anticipate and acknowledge a few counterarguments.

1. You haven’t read enough books. There are thousands of graphic novels throughout history. Maybe you should do a little research before you come at me with that “there are no graphic novels” nonsense. OK, I’ve already admitted that I’m completely ignorant when it comes to classic comic literature. That was pretty cocky of me, I think. But yeah, got it.

2. Funny is subjective. Who appointed you to decide what is funny and what is not? I’m not saying there are many books that pretend to be funny when they aren’t. I’m just saying there are very few books that are supposed to be funny.

3. How about romantic comedies? The name says it all about comedy. Yes, there are definitely a lot of romantic comedy novels being published. And they seem to sell well. But I would argue that they are generally more concerned with stirring up romance than generating laughs. As with other books described as funny, the humor is secondary, a side note.

I have listened to countless interviews with the authors of these books, and they are asked about the “use of humor” as if it were some mystical, unfathomable magic. “Tell me, why did you decide to use… humor?” asks the interviewer, who admires the magic but is also clearly afraid of it.

And so we drown in a sea of ​​laughterlessness, condemned to read increasingly serious and sad novels, utterly miserable and alone. I think that’s funny. Kind of.

Nick Bhasin is the author of I look forward to hearing from youpublished by Penguin Random House Australia.

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