WHEN SISTERHOOD WAS IN FLOWER: I just finished reading this truly hilarious satire of ’70s feminism, by failed Southern lady Florence King. Although I initially feared that the satire would be too broad to be scathing, King soon had me hooting and gasping with laughter and recognition.

Best stuff: The humor flows naturally from the characters (especially Gloria, the drugged-up medievalist with an Edward II fixation and a witchy curling iron). You never feel like King is yanking the plot or the characters around in order to make a point.

The right-winger is a slutty, cynical lush who coos to her pets (“Him have new name-names!”).

The left-winger takes to political correctness as just another way to earn straight A’s. This could not be more true, in my experience.

The section in which the narrator starts covertly writing pornography is the second-funniest thing I’ve ever read–and The Liar isn’t really a fair comparison, since that book is pretty much a direct infusion from Thalia’s evil twin.

WSWIF is out of print, but you can get it in The Florence King Reader.