Synopses & Reviews
Abe and his friend Sol are out for a walk together in a part of town they haven't been in before. Passing a Christian church, they notice a curious sign in front that says "$1,000 to anyone who will convert." "I wonder what that's about," says Abe. "I think I'll go in and have a look. I'll be back in a minute; just wait for me."
Sol sits on the sidewalk bench and waits patiently for nearly half an hour. Finally, Abe reappears.
"Well," asks Sol, "what are they up to? Who are they trying to convert? Why do they care? Did you get the $1,000?"
Indignantly Abe replies, "Money. That's all you people care about."
Ted Cohen thinks that's not a bad joke. But he also doesn't think it's an easy joke. For a listener or reader to laugh at Abe's conversion, a complicated set of conditions must be met. First, a listener has to recognize that Abe and Sol are Jewish names. Second, that listener has to be familiar with the widespread idea that Jews are more interested in money than anything else. And finally, the listener needs to know this information in advance of the joke, and without anyone telling him or her. Jokes, in short, are complicated transactions in which communities are forged, intimacy is offered, and otherwise offensive stereotypes and cliches lose their sting—at least sometimes.
Jokes is a book of jokes and a book about them. Cohen loves a good laugh, but as a philosopher, he is also interested in how jokes work, why they work, and when they don't. The delight at the end of a joke is the result of a complex set of conditions and processes, and Cohen takes us through these conditions in a philosophical exploration of humor. He considers questions of audience, selection of joke topics, the ethnic character of jokes, and their morality, all with plenty of examples that will make you either chuckle or wince. Jokes: more humorous than other philosophy books, more philosophical than other humor books.
"Befitting its subject, this study of jokes is . . . light, funny, and thought-provoking. . . . [T]he method fits the material, allowing the author to pepper the book with a diversity of jokes without flattening their humor as a steamroller theory might. Such a book is only as good as its jokes, and most of his are good. . . . [E]ntertainment and ideas in one gossamer package."—Kirkus Reviews
"One of the many triumphs of Ted Cohen's Jokes-apart from the not incidental fact that the jokes are so good that he doesn't bother to compete with them-is that it never tries to sound more profound than the jokes it tells. . . . [H]e makes you feel he is doing an unusual kind of philosophy. As though he has managed to turn J. L. Austin into one of the Marx Brothers. . . . Reading Jokes makes you feel that being genial is the most profound thing we ever do-which is something jokes also make us feel-and that doing philosophy is as natural as being amused."—Adam Phillips, London Review of Books
"[A] lucid and jargon-free study of the remarkable fact that we divert each other with stories meant to make us laugh. . . . An illuminating study, replete with killer jokes."—Kevin McCardle, The Herald (Glasgow)
"Cohen is an ardent joke-maker, keen to offer us a glimpse of how jokes are crafted and to have us dwell rather longer on their effects."—Barry C. Smith, Times Literary Supplement
"Because Ted Cohen loves jokes, we come to appreciate them more, and perhaps think further about the quality of good humor and the appropriateness of laughter in our lives."—Steve Carlson, Christian Science Monitor
Synopsis
Jokes is a book of jokes as well as a book about them. Ted Cohen loves a good laugh, but as a philosopher, he is also interested in how jokes work, why they work, and when they don't. Jokes: more humorous than other philosophy books, more philosophical than other humor books.
Synopsis
Abe and his friend Sol are out for a walk together in a part of town they haven't been in before. Passing a Christian church, they notice a curious sign in front that says $1,000 to anyone who will convert. I wonder what that's about, says Abe. I think I'll go in and have a look. I'll be back in a minute; just wait for me.
Sol sits on the sidewalk bench and waits patiently for nearly half an hour. Finally, Abe reappears.
Well, asks Sol, what are they up to? Who are they trying to convert? Why do they care? Did you get the $1,000?
Indignantly Abe replies, Money. That's all you people care about.
Ted Cohen thinks that's not a bad joke. But he also doesn't think it's an easy joke. For a listener or reader to laugh at Abe's conversion, a complicated set of conditions must be met. First, a listener has to recognize that Abe and Sol are Jewish names. Second, that listener has to be familiar with the widespread idea that Jews are more interested in money than anything else. And finally, the listener needs to know this information in advance of the joke, and without anyone telling him or her. Jokes, in short, are complicated transactions in which communities are forged, intimacy is offered, and otherwise offensive stereotypes and cliches lose their sting--at least sometimes.
Jokes is a book of jokes and a book about them. Cohen loves a good laugh, but as a philosopher, he is also interested in how jokes work, why they work, and when they don't. The delight at the end of a joke is the result of a complex set of conditions and processes, and Cohen takes us through these conditions in a philosophical exploration of humor. He considers questions of audience, selection of joke topics, the ethnic character of jokes, and their morality, all with plenty of examples that will make you either chuckle or wince. Jokes: more humorous than other philosophy books, more philosophical than other humor books.
Befitting its subject, this study of jokes is . . . light, funny, and thought-provoking. . . . T]he method fits the material, allowing the author to pepper the book with a diversity of jokes without flattening their humor as a steamroller theory might. Such a book is only as good as its jokes, and most of his are good. . . . E]ntertainment and ideas in one gossamer package.--Kirkus Reviews
One of the many triumphs of Ted Cohen's Jokes-apart from the not incidental fact that the jokes are so good that he doesn't bother to compete with them-is that it never tries to sound more profound than the jokes it tells. . . . H]e makes you feel he is doing an unusual kind of philosophy. As though he has managed to turn J. L. Austin into one of the Marx Brothers. . . . Reading Jokes makes you feel that being genial is the most profound thing we ever do-which is something jokes also make us feel-and that doing philosophy is as natural as being amused.--Adam Phillips, London Review of Books
A] lucid and jargon-free study of the remarkable fact that we divert each other with stories meant to make us laugh. . . . An illuminating study, replete with killer jokes.--Kevin McCardle, The Herald (Glasgow)
Cohen is an ardent joke-maker, keen to offer us a glimpse of how jokes are crafted and to have us dwell rather longer on their effects.--Barry C. Smith, Times Literary Supplement
Because Ted Cohen loves jokes, we come to appreciate them more, and perhaps think further about the quality of good humor and the appropriateness of laughter in our lives.--Steve Carlson, Christian Science Monitor
Synopsis
Samuel Steward (1909andndash;93) was an English professor, a tattoo artist for the Hells Angels, a sexual adventurer who shared his considerable range of experiences with Alfred Kinsey, and a prolific writer of everything from scholarly articles to gay erotica (under the penname Phil Andros). Given this biography, he sounds like a most unlikely contributor to a trade magazine like the
Illinois Dental Journal. Yet from 1944 to 1949, writing under the name Philip Sparrow, Steward produced monthly columns for the journal that were full of wit and flourish and that constituted a kind of disguised autobiography, with their reflections on his friendships and experiences and their endless allusions to his trove of multifarious knowledge.and#160;
and#160;
For Philip Sparrow Tells All, Jeremy Mulderig has gathered thirty of Stewardandrsquo;s most playful and insightful columns, which together paint a vivid portrait of 1940s America. In these essays we spend time with Stewardandrsquo;s friends like Gertrude Stein, Andrandeacute; Gide, and Thornton Wilder (who was also Stewardandrsquo;s occasional lover). We hear of his stint as a holiday sales clerk at Marshall Fieldandrsquo;s (where he met and seduced Rock Hudson), his roles as an opera and ballet extra in hilariously shoddy costumes, his hoarding tendencies, his disappointment with the drabness of menandrsquo;s fashions, and his dread of turning forty. We go along with him to a bodybuilding competition and a pet cemetery, and together we wander the boulevards of Paris and the alleys of Algiers. Throughout, Mulderigandrsquo;s entertaining annotations identify Stewardandrsquo;s often obscure allusions and tie the essays to the people and events of the day.
and#160;
Many decades later, Stewardandrsquo;s writing feels as stylistically fresh and charming as it did in his time. With richly detailed introductions to the essays that situate them in the context of Stewardandrsquo;s fascinating life, Philip Sparrow Tells All will bring this unusual and engaging writer to a fresh readership beyond the dental chair.
Synopsis
Essays by Sam Steward, originally published under the name Philip Sparrow, and now edited for republication by Jeremy Mulderig.
and#160;and#160; Samuel Stewardandrsquo;s life spanned most of the 20th century (1909-1993).and#160; He was an English professor (at DePaul University), a tattoo artist (the Hellandrsquo;s Angels were a prime client), and writer of erotic fiction whose place in gay history has been established by Justin Springandrsquo;s award-winning biography, Secret History (FSG, 2010).and#160; Muldergiandrsquo;s edition of Stewardandrsquo;s essays now gives us Steward in his own words in a way that Springandrsquo;s biography could only gesture at.and#160; We have here a singular collection of witty, charming, and erudite essays in the tradition of Montaigne and Bacon, examining the world at large and Stewardandrsquo;s and the readerandrsquo;s place in it that bring the persona Philip Sparrow to life while reflecting Stewardandrsquo;s own expansive knowledge of literature, history, music, art, philosophy, and contemporary events (not to mention Chicago people and places).and#160; Mulderig supplies consistently smart and informative headnotes to each of the 30 essays that speak to general readers on a wide range of topicsandmdash;including cryptography, espionage, psychiatry, opera, pet cemeteries, bodybuilding, keepsakes, medieval recipes, Gertrude Stein, Chicago, Paris, and the Womenandrsquo;s Christian Temperance Union.and#160; That they were originally published in the Illinois Dental Journal (from 1944 to 1949) is notable in itself, for the obscurity of the source as well as the novelty of a venue that would compel its author to create a persona.and#160; Under the guise of andldquo;Philip Sparrowandrdquo; he could say things the he might otherwise have written under his own name. Steward later published material in a Swiss gay magazine and erotica for Danish gay magazines and, in the 1980s, for The Advocate. The collection is a significant life document and will appeal to general readers and students across a spectrum of GLBT studies, Chicago literature, American Studies, and go directly to passionate fans of this cult author, an audience that was born in 2010 with Springandrsquo;s biography.
About the Author
Samuel Steward taught at both Loyola University and DePaul University in Chicago and ran a famous tattoo parlor on the cityandrsquo;s south side. His books include Dear Sammy: Letters from Gertrude Stein and Alice B. Toklas, Bad Boys and Tough Tattoos, and the Phil Andros series of erotic novels. Jeremy Mulderig is Vincent de Paul Associate Professor of English, Emeritus, at DePaul University in Chicago.
Table of Contents
Foreword
Acknowledgments
Sources Cited by Short Title
Textual Note
Introduction: Reading Samuel Stewardandrsquo;s Lost Essays, 1944andndash;49
1and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160; The Victimandrsquo;s Viewpoint: On Sublimated Sadism; or, the Dentist as Iago (January 1944)
2and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160; On Cryptography (October 1944)
3and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160; On Alcoholics Anonymous (November 1944)
4and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160; On Fifteen Years of Lent (January 1945)
5and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160; On Soldiers and Civilians (February 1945)
6and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160; On How to Cook a Wolf (March 1945)
7and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160; On How to Be a Spy (April 1945)
8and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160; On Psychiatry (May 1945)
9and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160; On Balletomania (June 1945)
10and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160; On Books from Prison (September 1945)
11and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160; On Cemeteries (Octoberandndash;November 1945)
12and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160; On a Call to Paris (March 1946)
13and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160; On the Importance of Dying Young (April 1946)
14and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160; On Chicago (August 1946)
15and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160; On Operas and Operating (December 1946)
16and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160; On Men and Their Feathers (January 1947)
17and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160; On Gertrude Stein (February 1947)
18and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160; On Little White Ribbons (March 1947)
19and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160; On Being Musclebound (April 1947)
20and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160; On Teaching (November 1947)
21and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160; On Fabulous, Fabulous Fieldandrsquo;s (January 1948)
22and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160; On Fair, Fantastic Paris (April 1948)
23and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160; On Ulysses, Grown Old (May 1948)
24and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160; On the Comic Spirit (June 1948)
25and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160; On Keepsakes, Gew-Gaws, and Baubles (September 1948)
26and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160; [On Mohammed Zenouhin] (October 1948)
27and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160; On the Dream, the Illusion (December 1948)
28and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160; On Time-Saving Devices (February 1949)
29and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160; On Getting to Be Forty (May 1949)
30and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160; A Modest Proposal (July 1949)
Appendix 1: Essays in the Illinois Dental Journal by Philip Sparrow
Appendix 2: Book-Review Articles in the Illinois Dental Journal by Samuel Steward
Notes
Index