Laughter Is the Best Medicine for These Times

COS COB, Conn. – Do you ever want to do a news cleanse? Just turn off all those screens and hunker down with a good book that will entertain you? Here comes Chicken Soup for the Soul’s latest humor collection. If you thought they only published self-help books, think again. This is the latest of eight very popular collections of humorous stories from the iconic publisher, which turns 30 this year.

The 101 feel-good stories in Chicken Soup for the Soul: Well THAT Was Funny (April 18, 2023, 978-1-611591019, $16.95) are all true, told by the people who lived through these embarrassing, hilarious, and truly human experiences. Editor-in-chief and publisher Amy Newmark says, “I must have sounded like a crazy person cackling away in my office while I was selecting and then editing these stories. Even on the third pass through them I was laughing.” She continues, “If laughter is the best medicine, then this book is your prescription. Turn off the news and spend a few days not following current events. Instead, return to the basics—humanity’s ability to laugh at itself. All I can promise is that these pages contain the antidote to whatever is troubling you. They will definitely put you in a good mood.”

No one is safe from the storytellers in this new collection—from their spouses, to parents, to children, to other relatives, to friends and colleagues. And of course, the funniest of all are the stories the writers tell about their own mishaps. You’ll read about domestic disasters, the most embarrassing moments people have ever had, social gaffes, misunderstandings based on language, the things kids say at just the wrong time… a huge variety of stories and situations that will make you laugh out loud. It’s good (mostly) clean fun, and it will bring back your own memories of your favorite stories, those that became legendary among family and friends.

Tanya Janke, for example, tells the story of the day she received birthday gift from her sister—a delicate, pretty dress. She proudly wore it to work, only to learn that night that she had been wearing a nightgown all day. In another case of mistaken identity, Alice Muschany and her husband were having a wonderful time at the wedding reception for the son of Alice’s co-worker when they saw one of her colleagues walk past their ballroom, heading to a different party. That’s when they realized they were at the wrong reception, had had a nice conversation with the wrong bride and groom, and had put their gift envelope into the wrong locked box.

Ava Pennington writes about her uncle, who was always the life of the party. Well, he did it again… at his wake… when the alarm on his watch, which made a laughter sound, sounded in his open casket. And speaking of guests, how about Sharon Landeen, who told her kids before her dinner party that the guest bathroom was off limits. Those obedient kids directed her guests to the very messy master bath all night, because Mom had told them not to use the pretty, clean guest bath.

ABOUT CHICKEN SOUP FOR THE SOUL

Chicken Soup for the Soul publishes the famous Chicken Soup for the Soul book series. With well over 100 million books sold to date in the U.S. and Canada, more than 300 titles, and translations into more than 40 languages, the phrase “chicken soup for the soul” is known worldwide and is regularly referenced in pop culture. Today, 30 years after it first began sharing happiness, inspiration and hope through its books, this socially conscious company continues to publish a new title a month. It has also evolved beyond the bookstore, with a podcast, education programs, dog and cat food, licensed products, and video, television and movies through its subsidiary, Chicken Soup for the Soul Entertainment.

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For a review copy of Chicken Soup for the Soul: Well THAT Was Funny or an interview with Amy Newmark: