Sweet Madness: A Study of Humor

Written for all who are interested in the mechanics of humor, Sweet Madness presents a general discussion and introduction to the roles of paradox, metaphor, and fantasy in humor. The operation of the implicit and the unconscious in humor; the importance of humor to human life; and the development, from childhood on, of the sense of humor are discussed.

The background for this serious study is drawn from such fields as psychiatry, psychology, anthropology, and sociology. William F. Fry, in t...