Synopses & Reviews
A funny, erudite, and provocative exploration of puns, the people who make them, and this derided wordplay's remarkable impact on human history.
In The Pun Also Rises, John Pollack-a former World Pun Champion and presidential speechwriter for Bill Clinton-explains why puns matter: They revolutionized language and played a pivotal role in making the modern world possible. Skillfully weaving together stories and evidence from history, brain science, pop culture, literature, anthropology, and humor, The Pun Also Rises is an authoritative yet playful exploration of puns.
With an engaging narrative, this book answers fundamental questions: Just what are puns? Why do people make them? How did punning impact the development of human language, and how did that drive creativity and progress? And why, after centuries of decline, does the pun still matter?
At once entertaining and educational, this engaging book builds a compelling case for the powerful and enduring role of puns in human discourse and innovation, and why they'll always be more than just some antics.
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"A compelling exegesis on what puns are and why they matter."
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"A fun, cogent argument in favor of a dubious, often-damned art."
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"He tells us, with a clarity unusual for the subject, how the mind works..."
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"The best books on language are the ones that encourage us to reexamine what we think we know, and "The Pun Also Rises" does exactly that."
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"Whether you are practicing punster, interested in language or just hungry to learn something on the beach this summer as you lie on the sand-which-is there (see what happens when you talk to this guy?), Pollack's book is fun and informative."
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"Punderful!"
-Ben Schott, author of Schott's Original Miscellany
"Anyone with an interest in language is going to find this book fascinating."
-David Crystal, author of How Language Works
"With his compelling narrative style, Pollack unearths hard evidence that the noble pun is much more than a literary step-child or linguistic anomaly. And as a practitioner of the art and artifice of wordplay himself, John naturally dedicates a bit of spice to peppering and assaulting us with a few subtle zingers of his zone."
-Gary Hallock, producer of the O.Henry Pun-Off World Championships
"In The Pun Also Rises, John Pollack stirs the brain and tickles the funny bone with rewording insights into why the pun is dramatically rising in our culture, and illuminates with dazzling whiz and witdom how the pun has made us who we are today."
-Richard Lederer, International Punster of the Year and author of Get Thee to a Punnery
Synopsis
A former presidential speechwriter for Bill Clinton explores the hidden power of analogy to fuel thought, connect ideas, spark innovation, and shape outcomes. From the meatpacking plants that inspired Henry Ford's first moving assembly line to the domino theory that led America into Vietnam to the "bicycle for the mind" that Steve Jobs envisioned as the Macintosh computer, analogies have played a dynamic role in shaping the world around us--and still do today.
Analogies are far more complex than their SAT stereotype and lie at the very core of human cognition and creativity. Once we become aware of this, we start seeing them everywhere--in ads, apps, political debates, legal arguments, logos, and euphemisms, to name just a few. At their very best, analogies inspire new ways of thinking, enable invention, and motivate people to action. Unfortunately, not every analogy that rings true is true. That's why, at their worst, analogies can deceive, manipulate, or mislead us into disaster. The challenge? Spotting the difference before it's too late.
Rich with engaging stories, surprising examples, and a practical method to evaluate the truth or effectiveness of any analogy, Shortcut will improve critical thinking, enhance creativity, and offer readers a fresh approach to resolving some of today's most intractable challenges.
About the Author
John Pollack, former presidential speechwriter, won the 1995 O. Henry World Championship Pun-Off. His previous books include Cork Boat and The World on a String: How to Become a Freelance Foreign Correspondent. He lives in New York City.