The 13 ½ Lives of Captain Bluebear by Walter Moers

The 13 ½ Lives of Captain Bluebear is, to my knowledge, a slightly obscure and not very well-known novel. It is, however, one of the funniest I've ever read. The novel details 13.5 of Bluebear's lives. Bluebear is a bear with blue fur, who tends to end up in awkward situations which his various skills can (or sometimes can't) get him out of. For example, he spends quite some time directing dreams inside the head of a giant, which he turns out to be very apt at.

Bluebear is apparently classified as a fantasy novel, but I wouldn't classify it as anything at all, except a funny novel. It's not in any way classic fantasy, but becomes fantasy only because is it nothing else. It's not light-weight, but so amusing that reading it is a breeze. It was originally written in German but I found the English translation excellent. I haven't come across any other novels by Walter Moers, but if I do I won't hesitate a second before buying and devouring them.