Deliriously Happy

TV scripter Doyle (The Simpsons) offers this collection of satirical essays and lampoons from the New Yorker, National Lampoon, Esquire, and other publications in which he skewers everything from wedding Web sites and Mark Twain to dating tips and The Flintstones. A rundown of chef's specials allows him to mock turtle soup: "Our special soup tonight is Georgian alligator turtle, prepared and presented in its own shell. The soup is served cold and slimy." Doyle often writes from the POV of offbeat characters, such as film director Demetri Pinot, defending himself against an accusation that his movie Christblood is "a zombie picture with Jesus as an undead killing machine." In "Freezer Madness," Doyle scoops up alternate Ben & Jerry's flavors: "Karamel Marx, Lenin Meringue, Julius and Ethyl Rosenberry." Many of the delightful cartoon illustrations have a clever 1930s clip-art look, reminiscent of prankster products in the old Johnson Smith Co. novelty catalogue. The acknowledgments page gives a nod to six writers who have served as stylistic influence: Woody Allen, Robert Benchley, Donald Barthelme, Thomas Pynchon, Michael O'Donohue, and Kurt Andersen. No matter the subject, Doyle can be trenchant, funny, esoteric, and unpredictable. (Nov. 8)