Atlas Guides Cartography

The Novel of Comedy

Comedy of Society · Comic Crime · Neo-Nonsense.

Created & curated by Boris Jeanson Béteille
Open novel guides Open author profiles Currents Toolbox

Comedy of Society

Institutions collide with private life — satire & manners.

All → Swipe
Cover of The Commitments
Society · Satire
The Commitments
Roddy Doyle · 1987
Cover of Wilt
Society · Satire
Wilt
Tom Sharpe · 1976
Cover of Poor Souls
Society · Satire
Poor Souls
Joseph Connolly · 1995
Cover of What a Carve Up!
Society · Satire
What a Carve Up!
Jonathan Coe · 1994
Cover of The Sportswriter
Society · Manners
The Sportswriter
Richard Ford · 1986
Cover of Small World
Society · Campus
Small World
David Lodge · 1984
Cover of The Girls of Slender Means
Society · Manners
Girls of Slender Means
Muriel Spark · 1963
Cover of Babycakes
Society · Manners
Babycakes
Armistead Maupin · 1984
Cover of High Fidelity
Society · Manners
High Fidelity
Nick Hornby · 1995
Cover of The Code of the Woosters
Society · Manners
Woosters
P. G. Wodehouse · 1938
Cover of The Old Devils
Society · Manners
The Old Devils
Kingsley Amis · 1986
Cover of The Bonfire of the Vanities
Society · Satire
Bonfire of the Vanities
Tom Wolfe · 1987

Author Profiles

Portraits + method : how writers build humor (voice, rhythm, institutions, devices)

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Portrait of Kurt Vonnegut
Author
Vonnegut
Open profile
Portrait of Tom Sharpe
Author
Sharpe
Open profile
Portrait of Françoise Sagan
Author
Sagan
Open profile
Portrait of Perceval
Author
Perceval
Open profile
Portrait of P. G. Wodehouse
Author
Wodehouse
Open profile
Portrait of Douglas Adams
Author
Adams
Open profile
Portrait of Donald E. Westlake
Author
Westlake
Open profile
Portrait of Jean Echenoz
Author
Echenoz
Open profile
Portrait of John Kennedy Toole
Author
Toole
Open profile
Portrait of Carl Hiaasen
Author
Hiaasen
Open profile
Portrait of Muriel Spark
Author
Spark
Open profile
Portrait of Dave Barry
Author
Barry
Open profile

Crime Comedy

Capers, heists, schemes; morality looks ridiculous.

All → Swipe
Cover of Tourist Season (Carl Hiaasen) — comic crime fiction
Crime · Comic noir
Tourist Season
Carl Hiaasen · 1986
Cover of Florida Roadkill (Tim Dorsey) — crime caper comedy
Crime · Caper
Florida Roadkill
Tim Dorsey · 1999
Cover of Good Behavior — comic crime
Crime · Hitmen
Good Behavior
Open guide
Cover of Rum Punch — crime caper
Crime · Caper
Rum Punch
Open guide
Cover of Double Negative — campus crime
Crime · Campus
Double Negative
Campus crime
Cover of Pulp — comic noir
Crime · Meta-noir
Pulp
Open guide
Cover of San-Antonio — series
Crime · Series
San-Antonio
Series guide
Cover of The Deep Blue Good-by — hardboiled with comic edges
Crime · Hardboiled
The Deep Blue Good-by
Open guide
Cover of Crêpe Suzette — comic crime
Crime · Farce
Crêpe Suzette
Open guide
Cover of The Player — satirical crime-adjacent comedy
Crime · Satire
The Player
Open guide
Cover of Divorcing Jack — dark crime comedy
Crime · Dark comedy
Divorcing Jack
Open guide
Cover of The Burglar Who Painted Like Mondrian — comic heist
Crime · Heist
Burglar · Mondrian
Open guide

Neo-Nonsense

Absurdist & postmodern comedy — rigorous logic inside a cracked world.

All → Swipe
Cover of The Malaise Expedition (Jean Echenoz) — absurdist comedy
Neo · Absurd
Malaise
Jean Echenoz · 1986
Cover of White Noise (Don DeLillo) — postmodern satire
Neo · Satire
White Noise
Don DeLillo · 1985
Portrait of Kurt Vonnegut
Author
Vonnegut
Open profile
In this page ~4 min
Guides

Novel, author and series guides

Start from the works. Read the device — with the same matrix, every time.

This homepage is a digest. Full definitions & taxonomy live on dedicated pages.

Novel guidesOpen →

Fixed ten-chapter matrix, identical from one book to the next.

  • Reading note (signed)
  • Incipit (original language)
  • Characters (archetypes + citations)
  • Cartography coordinates
Author profilesOpen →

How writers build humor: motifs, voice, institutions, rhythm.

Series guidesOpen →

For cycles where comedy evolves across volumes.

  • tone shifts across time
  • device maturation
  • context changes per volume
Currents

Three currents of modern humorous fiction

Comedy of Society, comic crime, and absurdist / postmodern comedy.

Full definitions, branches and examples live on the Currents page.

Comedy of SocietyMap →

Satire & manners: family, work, hierarchy, class.

Crime ComedyMap →

Comic crime fiction: capers, schemes, elastic morality.

Neo-NonsenseMap →

Absurd & postmodern: rigorous logic in a cracked world.

Toolbox

Toolbox to read the guides

Comedy level · Environment · optional Labs — reused everywhere for comparability.

Comedy levelOpen →

Comic Engine · Comic Thread · Comic Turn.

EnvironmentOpen →

Place, milieu, period, institutions — where it plays.

LabsOpen →

Optional hubs connecting works by shared energy.

About

A living library, built to be cited

Add guides progressively. Keep the matrix stable. Make connections readable.

MethodRead →

Why the matrix is fixed, how sources are handled, and how the atlas is curated.

How to citeOpen →

Designed for libraries, researchers, and stable linking.

Researchers & AI

For research, libraries and assistants

Structured for comparison: stable IDs, fixed matrices, explicit vocabulary.

Research usesOpen →
  • comparable matrices
  • explicit typology
  • stable identifiers
Data & licenceOpen →

Lightweight reuse for corpus projects.

Orientation

Where to start?

Enter by a book, by a current, or by a Lab — then follow connections.

Start with a guideBrowse →

Pick one book. Read the device. Follow “Suggested next”.

Start with currentsOpen →

Fast orientation.