Humor
ANDREWS MCMEEL
The Complete Far Side (Sept., $135) by Gary Larson is a slip-cased set containing published Far Side cartoons with an additional 1,100 that have never appeared.
BLOOMSBURY
Bitter with Baggage Seeks Same: The Life and Times of Some Chickens (Nov., $14.95) by Sloane Tanen features Tanen's chicken dioramas, photographed in color and captioned. 50,000 first printing.
CHICAGO REVIEW PRESS
(dist. by IPG)
The Insult & Curse Book (Sept., $12.95) by Michelle Lovric gathers creative, famous and traditional defamatory language; includes 20 stickers.
CROWN
Loser Goes First: My Thirty-Something Years of Dumb Luck and Minor Humiliation (Sept., $23) by Dan Kennedy, who didn't become a rock star or dot-com millionaire, presents a memoir of spectacular failures, humiliations and silly choices. Author tour.Boogers Are My Beat: More Lies, But Some Actual Journalism (Sept., $23.95) by Dave Barry. The humorist reprints columns on the Olympics, Florida elections and RV camping in the Wal-Mart parking lot. Ad/promo. 6-city author tour. 20-city radio satellite tour.
CYPRESS HOUSE
Dancing Naked... in Fuzzy Red Slippers (Oct., $15.95) by Carmen Richardson Rutlen gathers humorous essays and poems on the joys of living. Advertising. Author tour.
DUTTON
The Ig Nobel Prizes: The Annals of Improbable Research (Sept., $18.95) by Marc Abrahams pays tribute to individuals whose scientific achievements cannot or should not ever be reproduced.
The Darwin Awards III: Survival of the Fittest (Oct., $18.95) by Wendy Northcutt is a new collection that proves that humans still corner the market on stupidity.
M. EVANS
Jelly Donut Diet Book (Sept., $21.95) by Lawrence Grey encourages laughing at life and oneself.
GOLLANCZ
(dist. by Sterling)
Barry Trotter and the Unnecessary Sequel: The Book Nobody Has Been Waiting For by Michael Gerber and The Soddit: or, Cashing in Again by A.R.R.R. Roberts (both Sept., $9.95 each) parody Harry Potter and The Hobbit.
GOTHAM BOOKS
Life: The Odds (and How to Improve Them): What Are the Chances You Will: Date a Supermodel, Become President, Be Possessed by Satan, Win an Academy Award, and More! (Sept., $20) by Gregory Baer provides stats and advice for nudging fate in your favor.
HARPERENTERTAINMENT
I Am What I Ate... and I'm Frightened (Nov., $19.95) by Bill Cosby focuses on Americans' bad habits.
CLARKSON POTTER
The Goomba's Book of Love (Oct., $23) by Steven R. Schirripa and Charles Fleming. The sequel to A Goomba's Guide to Life looks at goomba amore. Ad/promo. Author tour. 20-city TV satellite tour.
PUBLICAFFAIRS
Years of Minutes: Favorites from 60 Minutes (Oct., $26) by Andy Rooney. The show's resident commentator gathers 25 years of his personal favorites. Advertising. Author publicity.
RUGGED LAND BOOKS
National Lampoon's 1964 High School Reunion Yearbook, 39th Reunion Edition (Sept., $19.95), edited by P.J. O'Rourke and Doug Kenney, reissues the bestseller from 1974; introduces Rugged Land's National Lampoon Books imprint. 100,000 first printing.
SIMON & SCHUSTER
The Funny Thing Is... (Oct., $23) by Ellen DeGeneres offers the comedienne's riffs on common issues; coincides with the launch of her new, nationally syndicated talk show. Ad/promo. Author publicity.
TALLFELLOW PRESS
(dist. by SCB)
The Sibling Thing: How I Went from Prince to Pest in Four Short Years (Oct., $17.95) by Saul Turteltaub. The author of The Grandfather Thing is a grandfather again and observing the new addition, Baby Ross.
WORKMAN
The Sound of One Thigh Clapping: Haiku for a Thinner You (Sept., $10.95) by Meredith Clair. Pithy lines combine Haiku style with diet themes. 15-city author tour.
