Russell Baker's Book of American Humor

by Russell Baker (Editor)

Overview

One of the great glories of life in the U.S. is the humor of its people.

Baker surveys this territory in this rich treasury and stakes it out in a dozen sections. Roaming through them, the reader will find P.J. O'Rourke, H.L. Mencken, James Thurber, Zora Neale Hurston, and many others.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780393035926
Publisher:	Norton, W. W. & Company, Inc.
Publication date:	10/17/1993
Pages:	600
Sales rank:	704,886
Product dimensions:	6.50(w) x 9.60(h) x 1.80(d)

Editorial Reviews

Dividing his anthology into sections that include ``The Human Muddle'' and ``The Gnashing of Teeth,'' Baker ranges from H.L. Mencken and James Thurber to Molly Ivins and P.J. O'Rourke in search of something to tickle your funny bone.

Library Journal

A hundred-plus examples--satirical, situational, parodic--fill out this jocund anthology that rollicks with drolleries, from Dr. Franklin's sage advice to a young man (to wit, chase older women), to modern enigmas of "This Sex Problem," as Baker billboards that section. Sorting pieces into 12 categories, such as "Shameless Frivolity," Baker followed a sensible selection policy: if he liked the story, it was in. Humor is a notoriously impermanent form, and the subtle yukmeisters of yore have almost been eclipsed by the late-night TV comics and their blitzkriegs of punchlines. In contrast to them, these writers are subtle, deft, planting their pieces with word-mines that go off in ambush, provoking audible guffaws and pleasing proof that the reader is with masters.

Gilbert Taylor

"Do not try reading this book from cover to cover," Russell Baker warns, and that warning is easy enough to follow. His book is mostly funny, and even when it isn't, it is generous and big-hearted. Humor is the ultimate subjective literary form. Suffice it to say that "Russell Baker's Book of American Humor" should make you proud to be an American....Let's enjoy all the laughter we can. -- New York Times

Christopher Buckley