Stop Me If You've Heard This by Jim Holt
Most of the jokes we trade are actually hundreds of years old: Palamedes, a Greek hero of the Trojan War, is credited with inventing the joke and it was Philip the Great of Macedon in the 4th century BC who paid to have the first joke book compiled. Why do we laugh at these jokes? This title explores the various theories.
Wholesome fun for all the family-- Christopher Hitchens
Small, witty, and delightful...a worthy successor to Harry Frankfurt's brilliant On Bullshit. -- Simon Blackburn * The New York Sun *
Explodes the myth that the high and low brow are more than a couple of inches apart....Seriously funny stuff. -- Colin McGinn, author of The Making of a Philosopher
Fast-moving, idiosyncratic...a stocking-stuffer. * The New York Times Book Review *
Finally, I understand what it is I've been laughing at for all these years. -- Jimmy Kimmel
Jim Holt manages here to be deadly serious and perfectly hilarious at the same time. -- Billy Collins, former Poet Laureate of the US
This excellent little book will be my Christmas present -- Guy Browning
Viewed through Holt's complex, concise lens, the joke comes off as a contender for humankind's most profound mode of expression. * Elle *
Holt...takes in so much about the history and philosophy of joke-telling in his concise and amiable conspectus of the subject. * The Wall Street Journal *
Jim Holt riffs in Stop Me If You've Heard This. * Vanity Fair *
Concise and witty * Waterstone's Books Quarterly *
Entertaining... raises a good number of laughs * Sunday Times *
A sweet, witty and intelligent little book. I only wish that, unlike a good joke, it was longer. -- William Leith * Guardian *
[A] fast-moving, idiosyncratic survey of humour -- David Robinson * Scotsman *
Holt has the answers... his delivery is seamless... all good stuff * Sunday Herald *
An ideal gift for someone with a sense of humour...droll and quirky -- Milly Getachew * New Statesman *
More treat than treatise, an ideal gift -- Milly Getachew * New Statesman *
Small, witty, and delightful...a worthy successor to Harry Frankfurt's brilliant On Bullshit. -- Simon Blackburn * The New York Sun *
Explodes the myth that the high and low brow are more than a couple of inches apart....Seriously funny stuff. -- Colin McGinn, author of The Making of a Philosopher
Fast-moving, idiosyncratic...a stocking-stuffer. * The New York Times Book Review *
Finally, I understand what it is I've been laughing at for all these years. -- Jimmy Kimmel
Jim Holt manages here to be deadly serious and perfectly hilarious at the same time. -- Billy Collins, former Poet Laureate of the US
This excellent little book will be my Christmas present -- Guy Browning
Viewed through Holt's complex, concise lens, the joke comes off as a contender for humankind's most profound mode of expression. * Elle *
Holt...takes in so much about the history and philosophy of joke-telling in his concise and amiable conspectus of the subject. * The Wall Street Journal *
Jim Holt riffs in Stop Me If You've Heard This. * Vanity Fair *
Concise and witty * Waterstone's Books Quarterly *
Entertaining... raises a good number of laughs * Sunday Times *
A sweet, witty and intelligent little book. I only wish that, unlike a good joke, it was longer. -- William Leith * Guardian *
[A] fast-moving, idiosyncratic survey of humour -- David Robinson * Scotsman *
Holt has the answers... his delivery is seamless... all good stuff * Sunday Herald *
An ideal gift for someone with a sense of humour...droll and quirky -- Milly Getachew * New Statesman *
More treat than treatise, an ideal gift -- Milly Getachew * New Statesman *
Jim Holt is a longtime contributor to The New Yorker and the New York Times Magazine, specializing in science and existential conundrums. An erstwhile gossip columnist and an inveterate collector of jokes, he lives in New York City.
| SKU | Unavailable |
| ISBN 13 | 9781846681097 |
| ISBN 10 | 184668109X |
| Title | Stop Me If You've Heard This |
| Author | Jim Holt |
| Condition | Unavailable |
| Binding Type | Hardback |
| Publisher | Profile Books Ltd |
| Year published | 2008-10-23 |
| Number of pages | 160 |
| Cover note | Book picture is for illustrative purposes only, actual binding, cover or edition may vary. |
| Note | Unavailable |