Free Downloads Humorists: From Hogarth To Noel Coward
“It is Johnson’s gift that he can make his subjects human and fallible enough that we would…recognize them instantly, while also illuminating what made them heroes.” —Washington Post Book World on Heroes“Johnson is a clear, intelligent, forceful writer, and nothing if not thorough.” —Wall Street JournalPaul Johnson, the acclaimed author of Creators, Heroes, and the New York Times bestseller Intellectuals, returns with a captivating collection of biographical portraits of the Western world’s greatest wits and humorists. With chapters dedicated to history’s sharpest tongues and most piercing pens, including Benjamin Franklin, Toulouse-Lautrec, G.K. Chesterton, Damon Runyan, W.C. Fields, the Marx Brothers, and many more, Johnson’s Humorists is an exciting compendium of our most enduring comical and satirical innovators.
Paperback: 272 pages
Publisher: Harper Perennial; Reprint edition (November 29, 2011)
Language: English
ISBN-10: 0061825921
ISBN-13: 978-0061825927
Product Dimensions: 5.3 x 0.6 x 8 inches
Shipping Weight: 6.4 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
Average Customer Review: 4.0 out of 5 stars See all reviews (13 customer reviews)
Best Sellers Rank: #1,033,437 in Books (See Top 100 in Books) #98 in Books > Literature & Fiction > History & Criticism > Genres & Styles > Humor #101 in Books > Humor & Entertainment > Humor > Theories of Humor #5312 in Books > Humor & Entertainment > Humor > Satire
Warning! Watch your step today. It's April Fools' Day. This day of practical jokes and jokesters is celebrated in the U.S., Europe, Australia, Brazil and Canada. For book lovers in other countries, look it up on Wikipedia. And did you know that Charles Dickens (1812-1870) was the most successful comic in history?So today I bring you a very satisfying book/comedic journey from historian Paul Johnson who channels W.C. Fields: "We know what makes people laugh. We do not know why they laugh."Johnson, with his unique style of short historical chapters, elegant writing, and deep insights, delivers a cavalcade of comedy--while spotlighting an amazing list of humorists and their secret formulas for making us laugh."Broadly speaking," says Johnson, "humor is a matter of chaos or character." So here's a little April Fools' Day dessert for my more discriminating readers who delight in tickling various funny bones (their own and others). Warning! If you are a public speaker and think yourself witty--think again.LO! & LOL: ABRAHAM AND SARAH. Paul Johnson says "the Old Testament contains 26 laughs, which do not form any particular pattern or expand our knowledge of why people laugh. The first occurs in chapter 17 of the book of Genesis, and is the first time a case of laughter was recorded in words, about 1500 BC." (It's when God appeared to Abraham. "Lo! Sarah, thy wife, shall have a son!" Read Johnson or Genesis for the punch line!)PRE-TWITTER: 1709-1784. "The sayings of Dr. [Samuel] Johnson, which are memorable or at any rate remembered, amount to at least a thousand by my reckoning. The "Oxford Dictionary of Quotations" lists 276, which puts him fourth after Shakespeare, Alexander Pope, and Kipling.""He would often say, Mrs.
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