The Big Book of New American Humor: The Best of the Past 25 Years

An anthology of the very funniest jokes, stories, scripts, cartoons, and parodies from Americas's top humorists, comedians, cartoonists, and entertainers of the past twenty-five years on every subject from politics to sex

YA-- A collection of humor taken from a variety of sources. National Lampoon, Mad magazine, and the New Yorker are represented, as are episode-length scripts from situation comedies such as Taxi and The Mary Tyler Moore Show . From the comic pages come Doonesbury, Zippy, Far Side, Calvin and Hobbes, and Cathy . Joan Rivers, Woody Allen, Billy Crystal, Nora Ephron, Jackie Mason, and dozens of other comedians are included. Not present is the aggressive, demeaning humor popular in the late '80s, and the editors have done a commendable although not wholly successful job of avoiding jokes that belittle minorities. There are licentious limericks, and comic essays and cartoons dealing with sexuality. The layout of this oversized book makes it fun to thumb through.
-Roger Green, Jefferson Sci-Tech, Alexandria, VA
Copyright 1991 Reed Business Information, Inc.

More than 300 pages of outrageous parodies, cartoons, stand-up jokes and excerpts from books, movies and television scripts attest to the variety and vitality of American wit. Woody Allen explores psychic phenomena; Dave Barry assesses major nonhumorous events in American history; and George Carlin examines the complexities of owning "stuff." Here too is David Lloyd's Mary Tyler Moore Show episode, "Chuckles Bites the Dust," wherein a clown's death is a scream, as well as "Marred Bliss," the Dink and Jane story in which Mark O'Donnell raises the malapropism to an art form. Martin Mull and Allen Rucker offer a questionnaire for readers who wonder "Am I White?" Sprinkled among the longer pieces are the work of cartoonists, including Gary Larson, George Booth and Gahan Wilson; material from comedians such as Jonathan Katz and "love goddess" Judy Tenuta; and anonymous, everyday humor such as light bulb jokes and licentious limericks. Michael O'Donoghue's "How to Write Good" offers hot tips anyone can begin using immediately; we'd explain further, but suddenly we are "run over by a truck." The editors collaborated on The Big Book of Jewish Humor. $55,000 ad/promo; author tour.
Copyright 1990 Reed Business Information, Inc.

From the editors of The Big Book of Jewish Humor ( LJ 12/81) comes this eclectic collection of short stories, cartoons, screenplays, and parodies. The many outstanding contributions represent the broad spectrum of contemporary American humor, from National Lampoon to The New Yorker . While arguably "the best," this treasury is worthy of consideration for most literature of American humor collections. Calvin Trillin and Garrison Keillor are represented here, as are cartoonists Garry Trudeau and S. Gross. Stand-up routines from George Carlin and Steven Wright are found, along with such gems as the TV script for the famous "Chuckles the Clown" episode of The Mary Tyler Moore Show , and the sheet music to Tom Lehrer's "Vatican Rag." Recommended for public library collections.
- Joe Accardi, Triodyne, Inc. Information Ctr., Niles, Ill.
Copyright 1990 Reed Business Information, Inc.