By Wilt Durst.

• Position: Book review

Being billed as "The Smartest Man in the World" carries a heavy responsibility. As evidenced by his widely and wildly successful podcast of the same name, comedian and Whose Line Is It Anyway stalwart Greg Proops stands effortlessly undaunted. The man can bring it, as he proves in his first tome, The Smartest Book in the World: A Lexicon of Literacy, A Rancorous Reportage, A Concise Curriculum of Cool (Simon & Schuster). If you're a fan of take-no-prisoners humor, be prepared to chortle, snicker, snort, giggle, guffaw, and howl.

In Glen Merzer's novel Off the Reservation (Vivid Thoughts Press), Indiana Congressman Evan Gorgoni collapses in a parking lot, and an epiphany compels him to get the hell out of Washington. He goes on Meet the Press to explain in blunt and unvarnished detail the reasons for his departure. The eight-term Democrat is amazed to hear from one of his precocious daughters that he has become an Internet sensation and eventually allows himself to be drafted into a presidential run. That's when this keen, whimsical novel really takes off, as Merzer guides us through a sardonic roller-coaster ride of a campaign seen through the eyes of a...