Laughs and Letters

Three books have been announced as the finalists for the 2012 Thurber Prize for American Humor. They are: Pawnee: The Greatest Town in America, by Leslie Knope (really, Nate Di Meo), based on the NBC-TV sitcom Parks and Recreation; Quite Enough of Calvin Trillin: 40 Years of Funny Stuff, by Calvin Trillin of course; and Starting from Happy, by Patricia Marx. This year’s prize will be presented on October 1 in Columbus, Ohio, the boyhood home of its namesake, author and cartoonist James Thurber.