Product Description

Seriously Funny Writing By Today's Most Celebrated Authors

At last, a premier showcase of fifty-four great literary humorists and masters of the journalistic jab, the social spoof, the parodic proof, the satire, the tirade, and the send-up. Here are those "last laughs" and "wit's end" pieces everyone turns to first but then loses in back issues of favorite magazines and newspapers, including:

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #750897 in Books
• Published on: 2000-03-01
• Released on: 2000-02-02
• Original language: English
• Number of items: 1
• Binding: Paperback
• 640 pages

Amazon.com Review
Mirth of a Nation is a collection of short humor pieces compiled by the Thurber House, which is a very dry way of describing a very funny book. Mirth is, at long last, a truly perfect humor-browser's read, for everything--everything--is presented with a wry wink. The book opens with Dave Eggers's guidelines for submitting work to the Thurber House ("Before undertaking the typing, straightening, and mailing of your submission, please do us the small favor of washing your hands. Please.") and closes with Al Franken's refreshingly mean-spirited index ("Luntz, Frank, likelihood of his immediately turning to index and looking up his name, 48"). In between is a hilarious collection of both new and previously published pieces. Targets range from contemporary issues (Chris Harris, tackling the UFO phenomenon in "What We Talk About When We Talk About Little Green Men": "If their object is stealth, why must they employ colored, blinking lights on the outside of their spacecraft? Is it alien Christmastime?") to the biblical, as in Ian Frazier's marvelous "Laws Concerning Food and Drink; Principles; Lamentations of the Father" ("Heed me; for if you sit like that, your hair will go into the syrup. And now behold, even as I have said, it has come to pass.") The book is so funny, in fact, that it would be a pity to give away any more punch lines. Grab a copy and see for yourself. --Ali Davis

From Publishers Weekly
The audio medium is probably the best way to absorb this collection of comic pieces written by American humorists. The vignettes, which range from the hokey to the truly jocular, receive the royal treatment by seasoned actors Roberts and Essman. Other performers, notably Plimpton and Rakoff, add spunk and pizzazz to what might otherwise be dry, vaguely spirited essays. Rakoff gives a cynical and hilarious performance of his own "All Happy Families...," about a neurotic dude whose New Year's resolution is to explore "more natural avenues to happiness" (e.g., by eating four packages a day of Robert's American Gourmet Gingko Biloba Rings). Essman's reading of Carina Chocano's "The Self-Help Hot Line" is appropriately saccharine, while Roberts's delivery of Bruce McCall's "Who Wants to Keep His Job" is matter-of-fact. All the pieces were anthologized in either Mirth of a Nation and More Mirth of a Nation, and some originally appeared in the New York Times magazine, Tropic magazine, Salon.com, McSweeney's Internet Tendency, the New Yorker and other publications. While some tracks are bound to be replayed for friends more than others, this is overall a valuable and well-performed collection.
Copyright 2002 Reed Business Information, Inc.

From Booklist
Capitalizing on the current renaissance of American humor, editor Rosen has assembled more than 50 top wisecrackers, most represented by two or three short works. Included are veterans like Dave Barry, Roy Blount Jr., and Fran Lebowitz, and rising stars like David Sedaris, Sandra Tsing Loh, Patricia Marx, and David Rakoff. Though many of the pieces have been published or broadcast previously, some appear in this volume for the first time--notably Bonnie Abbott's "Zone 5: Gardening Advice by Mertensia Corydalis," a character who's a cross between Martha Stewart and Dr. Laura but with personal axes to grind. Another standout is Chris Harris' "Design Intervention," which modestly proposes to settle world disputes through more aesthetic border redesign ("Our primary goal, remember, is a beautiful world map"). Also, Jon Stewart's monologue by a catty waiter at the Last Supper is a small miracle. Thanks to McSweeney's editor Dave Eggers, even the book's submission guidelines and "A Note about the Type" tickle ribs. This volume, the first in a planned series, will be a welcome companion on the commuter train, at the beach, during a hospital stay--and, naturally, at the Reference Desk. James Klise