Stop me if you've heard this : a history and philosophy of jokes / Jim Holt.
| Author/creator | Holt, Jim, 1954- |
| Format | Book |
| Edition | 1st ed. |
| Publication Info | New York : W.W. Norton, ©2008. |
| Description | xv, 141 pages : illustrations ; 18 cm |
| Supplemental Content | Table of contents |
| Subjects |
| Contents | History -- Philosophy. |
| Review | "Stop Me If You've Heard This is the first book to trace the evolution of the joke all the way from the stand-up comics of ancient Athens to the comedy-club Seinfelds of today. Cropping up en route are such unforgettable figures as Poggio, a Renaissance papal secretary and sexual adventurer who set up a joke factory in the Vatican, and Gershon Legman, the FBI-hounded psychoanalyst of dirty jokes who invented the slogan "Make Love Not War."" |
| Summary | "After exploring humor's history in part one, the irreducible Jim Holt delves into philosophy in part two. Jewish jokes; Wall Street jokes; jokes about lesbians and violists, rednecks and atheists, bulimics and politicians; jokes that you missed if you didn't go to a Catholic girls' school; jokes about language and logic itself - all become fodder for the grand theories of Aristotle, Kant, Freud, and Wittgenstein. Among the mysteries examined is why the cerebral pleasure of a joke should issue in a spasmodic discharge of nervous energy through the facial and respiratory muscles - that is, in laughter."--Jacket. |
| Bibliography note | Includes bibliographical references (pages 127-128) and index. |
| Terms of use | British Library not licensed to copy 0. |
| Genre/form | Young adult nonfiction. |
| Genre/form | Criticism, interpretation, etc. |
| LCCN | 2008013202 |
| ISBN | 9780393066739 (hbk.) |
| ISBN | 0393066738 (hbk.) |