Love, Laughter, and Death


Book Description

Love, Laughter, and Death is a collection of freestyle poetry. Love, Laughter, and Death encourages the reader to travel through the corridors of their own mind while exploring romance, immortal love, laughter, and the pains of death. Written, at times raw, but always with the passion that flows through the writer. From start to finish this collection of poems will provoke your mind to try to understand that love stands ominously over every broken heart, laughter sooths the spirit and in the end death takes it all away.




Exit Laughing


Book Description

There’s nothing funny about dying … or is there? Malachy McCourt, Jacquelyn Mitchard, and 22 more share hilarious and moving stories of confronting death. Exit Laughing makes death more approachable as it reveals the funny side of “passing on.” As painful as it is to lose a loved one, Exit Laughing shows us that in times of grief, humor can help us with coping and even healing. Best-selling author Amy Ferris explains how her mother’s dementia led to a permanent ban from an airline. Ellen Sussman writes of flying her mother's body home and watching the burial wardrobe spill out on the baggage carousel. Broadway and television actor Richard McKenzie shares the riotous story of a funeral procession led by a lost hearse. Bonnie Garvin even manages to find a heavy dose of dark humor in her parents’ three unsuccessful attempts at a double suicide. These stories, along with tales from Joshua Braff, Barbara Graham, Dianne Rinehart, and more, constitute a book whose purpose is to remind readers that when dealing with illness, aging, and dying, there is an important place for laugh-out-loud humor.




With Love and Laughter, John Ritter


Book Description

With Love and Laughter is actress Amy Yasbeck’s most enduring memory of the life she shared with her husband, one of America’s most popular and beloved film and television actors, John Ritter. We welcomed him into our homes weekly with his Emmy Award–winning portrayal of Jack Tripper on Three’s Company and his hit comedy 8 Simple Rules for Dating My Teenage Daughter. On September 11, 2003, John Ritter’s death from an undiagnosed aortic dissection, at the age of fifty-four, shocked and saddened not only his family and friends but also his millions of fans around the world. In this inspiring and enlightening memoir, Yasbeck reveals how she dealt with the loss and shock of losing John so unexpectedly. It is both a moving portrait of her husband, and an extremely relatable examination of the painful process of grieving. Enduring her grief with poise and patience, she is dedicated to preserving his name and With Love and Laughter, John Ritter is a wonderful and touching tribute to a man adored by the public and cherished by friends and family. Here are the unforgettable times she shared with a man who was adored for finding humor in everyday encounters, never failing to energize and entertain everyone around him. His philosophy was summed up by his favorite autograph for his fans, With Love and Laughter, John Ritter. Amy Yasbeck’s powerful story reminds us that love never dies . . . and the laughter doesn’t have to end.




Rumi's Little Book of Love and Laughter


Book Description

Rowdy, ecstatic, and sometimes stern, these teaching stories and fables reveal new and very human properties in Rumi's vision. Included here are the notorious "Latin parts" that Reynold Nicholson felt were too unseemly to appear in English in his 1920s translation. For Rumi, anything that human beings do--however compulsive--affords a glimpse into the inner life. Here are more than 40 fables or teaching stories that deal with love, laughter, death, betrayal, and the soul. The stories are exuberant, earthy, and bursting with vitality--much like a painting by Hieronymus Bosch or Chaucer's Canterbury Tales. The characters are guilty, lecherous, tricky, ribald, and finally possessors of opened souls. Barks writes: "These teaching stories are a kind of scrimshaw--intricately carved, busy figures, confused and threatening, and weirdly funny. This is an entertaining collection from one of the greatest spiritual poets of all time, rendered by his most popular translator. "The minute I heard my first love story, I started looking for you, not knowing how blind that was. Lovers don't finally meet somewhere. They're in each other all along."--Rumi




Songs of Love and Death


Book Description

A groundbreaking and “wonderful” (Library Journal, starred review) anthology of fantasy, science fiction, and romance from New York Times bestselling and award-winning authors, edited by the acclaimed George R.R. Martin and Gardner Dozois. From epic fantasy, post-apocalyptic America, to faerie-haunted rural fields in 18th-century England, to an intergalactic empire, join star-crossed lovers as they struggle against the forces of magic and fate. A star-studded cross-genre anthology Songs of Love and Death features all-original tales from seventeen of the most prestigious names in romance, fantasy, and science fiction. Contributors include: -Neil Gaiman -Diana Gabaldon -Jim Butcher -Robin Hobb -Marjorie M. Liu -Jo Beverley -Mary Jo Putney -Peter S. Beagle -Jacqueline Carey -Carrie Vaughn -Yasmine Galenorn -MLN Hanover -Kristine Kathryn Rusch -Linnea Sinclair -Cecelia Holland -Tanith Lee -Melinda Snodgrass -Lisa Tuttle




The Book of Laughter and Forgetting


Book Description

"An absolutely dazzling entertainment. . . . Arousing on every level—political, erotic, intellectual, and above all, humorous." —Newsweek "The Book of Laughter and Forgetting calls itself a novel, although it is part fairy tale, part literary criticism, part political tract, part musicology, and part autobiography. It can call itself whatever it wants to, because the whole is genius." —New York Times Rich in its stories, characters, and imaginative range, The Book of Laughter and Forgetting is the novel that brought Milan Kundera his first big international success in the late 1970s. Like all his work, it is valuable for far more than its historical implications. In seven wonderfully integrated parts, different aspects of human existence are magnified and reduced, reordered and emphasized, newly examined, analyzed, and experienced.




My Husband Has Died, but That’S Not the Funny Part


Book Description

Losing her husband Dennis unexpectedly in 2011, at the young age of 47, Debra was faced with handling grief in the only way she knew how, with strength, grace and much laughter. Debra worked through her tears by posting to her husband each day (for one year) on a social media website after his passing. She credits her seeing the light of day by sharing funny stories of their time together and walking through the pain, not alone, but with her ever growing unshakeable faith in God and the resounding love of many who have taken this journey each day with her. Through her stories, her daily blog (thehappywidow.com) and her posts she has used her distinctively unique humor, desire to honor the love of her life, and her ability to tell it like it is to inspire, lift, and encourage others in a way seldom seen. Losing the one you love suddenly is like being put on a roller coaster ride (and I have always hated those). You rise slowly, fall fast, hold on for dear life, and scream not so nice words that you hope those around you didnt hear. But when you get off this ride, while you may not want to buy another ticket, you are so proud of yourself for just being able to say you let go, threw your hands in the air the entire time and you indeed lived through it. You will laugh, you will cry, at time you will pray you never personally know how she truly feels, but after you read this book that was written to her sweet husband Dennis and for her children Timothy and Sarah, you will believe that just maybe there is a way to face death and come out smiling.




Life, Love, Laughter


Book Description

In Life, Love, Laughter: Celebrating Your Existence, one of the twentieth century’s greatest spiritual teachers shares how humor and wisdom strengthens our lives. In this collection of reflections, Osho’s encouraging and loving stories go far beyond the usual chicken-soup fare. Life, Love, Laughter establishes a new genre of introspective text stripped of all platitudes and clichés, and absolutely in tune with the realities of the twenty-first century. In this artful work, Osho mixes entertainment and inspiration, ancient Zen stories and contemporary jokes to help us to find love, laughter, and ultimately, happiness. Featuring an original talk by Osho on DVD, you’ll experience his direct insight and wit straight from the source. Osho challenges readers to examine and break free of the conditioned belief systems and prejudices that limit their capacity to enjoy life in all its richness. He has been described by the Sunday Times of London as one of the “1000 Makers of the 20th Century” and by Sunday Mid-Day (India) as one of the ten people—along with Gandhi, Nehru, and Buddha—who have changed the destiny of India. Since his death in 1990, the influence of his teachings continues to expand, reaching seekers of all ages in virtually every country of the world.




Seriously Funny


Book Description

Can serious poetry be funny? Chaucer and Shakespeare would say yes, and so do the authors of these 187 poems that address timeless concerns but that also include comic elements. Beginning with the Beats and the New York School and continuing with both marquee-name poets and newcomers, Seriously Funny ranges from poems that are capsized by their own tomfoolery to those that glow with quiet wit to ones in which a laugh erupts in the midst of terrible darkness. Most of the selections were made in the editors' battered compact car, otherwise known as the Seriously Funny Mobile Unit. During the two years in which Barbara Hamby and David Kirby made their choices, they'd set out with a couple of boxes of books in the back seat, and whoever wasn't driving read to the other. When they found that a poem made both of them think but laugh as well, they earmarked it. Readers will find a true generosity in these poems, an eagerness to share ideas and emotions and also to entertain. The singer Ali Farka Tour said that honey is never good when it's only in one mouth, and the editors of Seriously Funny hope its readers find much to share with others.