Those of you who have followed my musings will know that I once wondered if a course could be taught on the history of humo[u]r. I'll let you know whe= n I've managed it, but I thought that some of you might like to see the reading list: Histories: Keith Cameron (ed), Humour and History Gregg Camfield, Necessary Madness: The Humor of Domesticity in Nineteenth-Century American Literature Stephen Connor, Dumbstruck: A Cultural History of Ventriloquism Jim Dawson, Who Cut the Cheese? A Cultural History of the Fart Penelope Fritzer, Merry Wives and Others: A History of Domestic Humor Writing Christa Grossinger, Humour and Folly in Secular and Profane Prints Wade Hall, Smiling Phoenix: Southern Humor From 1865 Heinz Henisch, Positive Pleasures: Early Photography and Humor Patrick Houlihan, Wit and Humor in Ancient Egypt Linda Martin and Kerry Segrave, Women in comedy; Funny Ladies from the Turn of the Century to the Present Lesley Milne, Reflective Laughter: Aspects of Humour in Russian Culture Janetta Rebold, Medieval Mischief, Wit and Humour in the Art of the Middle Ages Ann Rubenstein, Bad Language, Naked Ladies, and Other Threats to the Nation: A Political History of Comic Books in Mexico Barry Sanders, Sudden Glory, Laughter As Subversive History Jerold Savory, The Smiling Muse: Victoriana in the Comic Press Carrie Shook, Only in Virginia: The Unique History, Humor, and Heart of the Old Dominion Mel Watkins, On the Real Side: A History of African American Comedy Other Sources: Anthologies, e.g.: Melville D. Landon et al, Wit and Humor of the Age, Comprising Wit, Humor, Pathos, Ridicule, Satires, Dialects, Puns, Conundrums, Riddles, Charades, Jokes and Magic (Albany, N.Y. 1889) also, Morris Bishop (ed), A Treasury of British Humor (1942) and--paradoxically--E. B. White and Katharine S. White, A Subtreasury of American Humor (1941). Finally, Alan Coren (ed) The Penguin Book of Modern Humour (1983) Essays, e.g.: Michael Frayn, Speak After the Beep; Studies in the Art o= f Communicating With Inanimate and Semi-Animate Objects Letters, e.g.: Malcolm Bradbury, Unsent Letters Novels, e.g.: Peter Lefcourt, (Di and I) A Novel Poetry, e.g.: Wendy Cope (ed): The Funny Side; 101 Humorous Poems Satire, e.g.: James H. Boren, When in Doubt, Mumble: A Bureaucrat=B9s Handbook Scripts, e.g.: From Approximately Coast to Coast...It=B9s the Bob and Ray Show Theories. e.g.: Sigmund Freud, Jokes and Their Relation to the Unconscious Other, Other Sources (books you may not know and which are windows into an era): George S. Chappell, Through the Alimentary Canal With Gun and Camera Irvin S. Cobb, A Laugh A Day Keeps the Doctor Away Alan Coren, Golfing for Cats Frederick C. Crews, The Pooh Perplex A. P. Herbert, Uncommon Law Clive James, Glued to the Box Walt Kelly, Pogo Michael Marshall (ed), The Stanley Holloway Monologues George Mikes, How to Be An Alien Spike Milligan, Adolf Hitler, My Part in His Downfall Neil Munro, Para Handy C. Northcote Parkinson, Parkinson=B9s Law or the Pursuit of Progress W.C.Sellar and R.J. Yeatman, 1066 and All That Mark Spade, How to Run a Bassoon Factory or Business Explained Geoffrey Willans and Ronald Searle, Molesworth =20 You should try to understand why Swift and Shakespeare and Boccaccio an= d Moliere and Stern and Pope and... were (and are?) funny. Editors=B9 comments in anthologies will give you a starting point. You may also want to investigate the twentieth century work of Douglas Adams, Bill Bryson, Mikhael Bulgakov, Jaroslav Hasek, Milan Kundera, David Lodge, Tom Robbins, David Sedaris, Hunter Thompson, James Thurber, P.G. Wodehouse, Tom Wolfe. And then, there are recordings, television and film. Can I really have reached this far and not mentioned Monty Python or Second City or...? David Ritchie Portland, Oregon ------------------------------------------------------------------ To change your Lit-Ideas settings (subscribe/unsub, vacation on/off, digest on/off), visit www.andreas.com/faq-lit-ideas.html