Lamentations of the Father (2008)

With Lamentations of the Father, his third humor anthology, Ian Frazier again proves he's the master of the New Yorker-style parodic essay, and of elevating life's petty irritations to epic status. Not all of these sketches, written over the past 13 years, remain fresh (one pre-9/11 piece about Osama bin Laden now seems too cavalier to be funny), but most are witty, polished gems. Warning: Frazier's pieces are easily digestible but addictive. Reading them in the bathroom, on the subway, or in other heavy-traffic areas may force you to have to explain to others what's making you guffaw so loudly. A-