David Letterman is a Finalist for The Thurber Prize for American Humor

Posted on August 14, 2014

Comedian and talk show host David Letterman is one of three finalists for the 2014 Thurber Prize for American Humor. Letterman was nominated for his picture book This Land Was Made for You and Me (But Mostly Me): Billionaires in the Wild, co-written with author and illustrator Bruce McCall, whose paintings regularly grace the cover of The New Yorker.

The book takes readers on a tour of the most insanely extravagant (fictional) homes in the world, showing how the 1% really lives. The satire features tours of a hunting lodge where you can land your Gulfstream in the living room, the Canadian that vacations in his own floating, polystyrene iceberg, and the Russian oligarch who recreated Czar Alexander II's yacht, which floats on its own lake of oil.

There are two other finalists. Cartoonist Liza Donnelly, who draws for The New Yorker, The New York Times and many other publications, was nominated for Women on Men, a book of her humorous cartoons about the relationship between men and women. John Kenney for was nominated for his debut comic novel, Truth in Advertising. The novel follows the career and life of Finbar Dolan, who works at a Madison Avenue ad agency. His fortieth birthday is approaching and he faces a crisis at work (he must create an innovative and exciting diaper ad over the Christmas holiday to be ready for the Super Bowl) and at home (his estranged, abusive father is dying).

The judges for the contest are novelist Meg Wolitzer, author of The Interestings, humorist Henry Alford, New York Times columnist and author of Would It Kill You to Stop Doing That? and John Searles, book critic for the Today show and author of Help for the Haunted . The winner of the prize will receive $5,000 and a commemorative plaque and will be feted at a special event at Thurber House in Columbus, Ohio. Last year's winner was Dan Zevin, author of Dan Gets a Mini-Van.