Here is a look on the lighter side. A tragic world is no fun to contemplate, so instead here are some humorous or amusing fictional works all written in the 2000s.

‘Less’ by Andrew Sean Greer (2017) – Andrew Less had written a couple of novels that didn’t sell well at all. His publisher stages ‘An Evening with Andrew Less’, and no one shows up. This type of humor is universal, a guy laughing at himself and those around him as they sometimes make utter fools of themselves with their outrageous behavior. Andrew Less doesn’t take himself or his writing too seriously, and that’s what makes this novel so damn funny.

‘The Old Romantic’ by Louise Dean (2011) – “You never imagine your husband will get a thing for an embalmer and an outsize one at that – that’s one thing you don’t imagine.” This novel is a dark wicked joy.

‘Sellout’ by Paul Beatty (2015) – Our hero in ‘Sellout’ belongs to a group which some of its members show up every other week to argue with other members who show up every other month about what exactly bi-monthly means. ‘The Sellout’ is driven by a quest for the banned most racist episodes of the ‘Our Gang’ series, the ones that have never been shown on television.

‘Firmin’, the Adventures of a Metropolitan Lowlife by Sam Savage (2006) – This is the tale of a four-legged bookstore rat who was born in a nest made of a shredded copy of Finnegan’s Wake, then learns how to read, and becomes amazingly literary.

‘The Forensic Records Society’ by Magnus Mills (2017) – I could have mentioned any of Magnus Mills’ novels starting with his first, ‘The Restraint of Beasts’, but all of his deadpan fiction is a laugh fest. ‘The Forensic Records Society’ takes you to a record store back when the current music was hugely important in the 1960s and 1970s.

‘Knots’ by Gunnhild Øyehaug (2012) – There are 26 stories in ‘Knots’, each a comical take on the relations between men and women. These are rude and sometimes crude stories written from a woman’s point of view. In one story the umbilical cord between a mother and her son cannot be cut by any means.

‘A Horse Walks into a Bar’ by David Grossman (2014) – Here is an entertaining little novel about a stand-up comedian which is also one of the themes of ‘The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel’ which I have been watching on the TV.

‘Wittgenstein Jr.’ by Lars Iyer (2014) – The students in a philosophy class call their instructor Wittgenstein Jr. in fun and partial derision. The instructor is a cheerless soul. This is a class of students who are obsessed with their deranged teacher.

‘Mirror, Shoulder, Signal’ by Dorthe Nors (2016) – Sonya is a Danish woman in her forties who lives alone now, and that is just fine with her. ‘Mirror, Shoulder, Signal’ is light and amiable and amusing, a pleasant interlude from all the more vexing problems of today.

‘Honeydew’ by Edith Pearlman (2015) – ‘Honeydew’ is a collection of stories guaranteed to put a smile on your face. The stories were not written with the sole purpose just to be funny, but they will keep you amused.

‘The Amalgamation Polka’ by Stephen Wright (2006) – I am eagerly looking forward to the next novel by Stephen Wright even though he has not published since 2006. I have read all four of his works. His fiction is darkly comic and funny, but, even better, Wright’s outlook makes you think and feel. ‘The Amalgamation Polka’ is a pre-Civil War extravaganza, and like all of Wright’s work, unique.

‘Golden Hill’ by Francis Spufford (2017) – Here is another novel that was not specifically written to be humorous, but is delightfully amusing the entire way. It takes place in colonial New York around 1746.

‘The Tragedy of Arthur’ by Arthur Phillips (2011) – This is a wild and woolly story about how an unknown play about King Arthur written by William Shakespeare shows up in Minneapolis. The entire verbatim play is included which is mighty presumptuous of Arthur Phillips. Of course the fictional Arthur Phillips says of Shakespeare, “If it didn’t have his name on it, half his work would be booed off the stage.”