I had planned to start our holiday gift guide with fiction picks, but after hearing that Tribune, The Baltimore Sun's parent company, had filed for bankruptcy protection, I changed my mind. To paraphrase Auntie Mame: I need a little Christmas -- right this very minute. (Even if I am Jewish.) So here are some books that will provide laughs:

State by State edited by Matt Weiland and Sean Wilsey. A lighthearted, satirical look at America, with contributions from authors such as Jhumpa Lahiri (Rhode Island), Ann Patchett (Tennessee), Sarah Vowell (Montana) and Jonathan Franzen (New York). The writing is a bit uneven -- I object to having my home state of Connecticut characterized by a neurotic, New York commuter -- but entertaining throughout.

Deciding the Next Decider by Calvin Trillin. The great humorist provides a play-by-play of the presidential campiagn -- in verse. On Palin: "She styled herself as coming from the masses/A Harry Truman with more costly glasses." 

Theories of Everything by Roz Chast. A collection of Chast cartoons from 1978-2006, highlighting anxieties such as family conflicts ("The Big Book of Parent-Child Fights"), growing old and traveling outside New York City. One classic: A middle-aged man sits, reading obituaries whose headlines say: "Two years younger than you" and "Exactly your age".