Synopses & Reviews
One of the strongest cultural signals about how to live comes from laughter, whose sting we can never ignore. We can manage poverty, illness, even shame, but not ridicule, and the strategies we employ to immunize ourselves against it constitute a thick code of conduct the author calls "the morality of laughter."
Drawing on French and classical literature as well as Aristotle and Nietzsche, the author weaves his way through a thicket of nuanced examples and counterexamples to support his main theory, that superiority--the joker's signal of power over the butt of the joke--is a necessary condition for laughter, "a key that unlocks every door." Thus, Buckley suggests, laughter teaches us what society values and what it shuns. By identifying virtues, laughter identifies vices as well. He concludes by asserting that "Laughter invites us to think of life as a fine art," and examines the possibility of a "unified field" of thinking about laughter.
F. H. Buckley is Professor of Law, the George Mason University School of Law.
Synopsis
Bravo I ll say nothing funny about it, for it is a
superior piece of work.
P. J. O Rourke
F. H. Buckley s The Morality of Laughter is at once
a humorous look at serious matters and a serious
book about humor.
Crisis Magazine
Buckley has written a . ne and funny book that will
be read with pleasure and instruction.
First Things
. . . written elegantly and often wittily. . . .
National Post
. . . a fascinating philosophical exposition of
laughter. . . .
National Review
. . . at once a wise and highly amusing book.
Wall Street Journal Online
. . . a useful reminder that a cheery society is a
healthy one.
Weekly Standard
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Synopsis
In this scholarly yet entertaining treatment on a human reaction we often take for granted, the author offers a profound argument: that laughter compels us to answer the question: "How should I live?"
Synopsis
A serious look at the meaning of laughter through the ages
Synopsis
and#8220;Bravo! Iand#8217;ll say nothing funny about it, for it is a
superior piece of work.and#8221;
and#8212;P. J. Oand#8217;Rourke
and#8220;F. H. Buckleyand#8217;s The Morality of Laughter is at once
a humorous look at serious matters and a serious
book about humor.and#8221;
and#8212;Crisis Magazine
and#8220;Buckley has written a . ne and funny book that will
be read with pleasure and instruction.and#8221;
and#8212;First Things
and#8220;. . . written elegantly and often wittily. . . .and#8221;
and#8212;National Post
and#8220;. . . a fascinating philosophical exposition of
laughter. . . .and#8221;
and#8212;National Review
and#8220;. . . at once a wise and highly amusing book.and#8221;
and#8212;Wall Street Journal Online
and#8220;. . . a useful reminder that a cheery society is a
healthy one.and#8221;
and#8212;Weekly Standard