Dogs Don't Tell Jokes

Q. Why shouldn’t you write on an empty stomach?

A. Because it’s better to write on paper

Gary Boone, self-named ‘Goon’, is the class clown, always practising his stand-up comedy routines. The problem is that sometimes his jokes just aren’t funny and even the good ones are groan-inducing when they have been told hundreds of times before. Gary doesn’t realise that he has become the butt of his classmates’ cruel jokes. His jaded parents offer to pay him 100 dollars if he can abstain from telling jokes for three weeks. His mother explains ‘You tell jokes because you’re afraid to let people see who you are. You hide behind a wall of jokes.’ Only his friend Angeline and her unconventional family appreciate Gary’s humour and recognise his raw talent.

Gary is determined to prove that he’s a star, and when he sees the announcement for the school talent competition he knows that this is his big chance. But when self-doubt sets in, it is the imaginary Mrs Snitzberry, the subject of Gary’s jokes, who steps in to give advice: ‘Humor – man’s greatest gift! That’s what separates humans from all other animals. That’s why they call it humor. Humans – humor. You never hear dogs telling jokes, do you?’ To achieve success Gary must work at developing his talent and deal with some unexpected surprises along the way.

Dogs Don’t Tell Jokes, first published in America in 1991, is the latest of Sachar’s books to be published in the UK following the success of his highly original novel, Holes. Sachar’s clear and accessible prose style engages the reader and evokes an empathetic response to his protagonist while maintaining objectivity. Would-be stand-up comedians need look no further for personal and professional advice – this book has it all. Sachar’s delight in quirky characters, the hat-collecting Abel and Gus, and the bluntly spoken Mrs Snitzberry, is infectious. The book’s themes are serious, but Dogs Don’t Tell Jokes is throughout a good story, well told. I was enthralled from the first page to the last.