A joke book sharing the best jokes over the first 2.5 years of @abjokeaday with a letter from the author at the beginning

Walt Kelly blended nonsense language, poetry, and political and social satire to make Pogo an essential contribution to American “intellectual” comics. As the strip progressed, it became a hilarious platform for Kelly’s scathing political views in which he skewered national bogeymen like J. Edgar Hoover, Joseph McCarthy, George Wallace, and Richard Nixon. Walt Kelly started when newspaper strips shied away from politics ― Pogo was ahead of its time and ahead of later strips (such as Doonesbury and The Boondocks) that tackled political issues. Our first (of 12) volume reprints approximately the first two years of Pogo ― dailies and (for the first time) full-color Sundays. This first volume also introduces such enduring supporting characters as Porkypine, Churchy LaFemme, Beauregard Bugleboy, Seminole Sam, Howland Owl, and many others. And for Christmas, 1949, Kelly started his tradition of regaling his readers with his infamously and gloriously mangled Christmas carols.

Research on humor is carried out in a number of areas in psychology, including the cognitive (What makes something funny?), developmental (when do we develop a sense of humor?), and social (how is humor used in social interactions?) Although there is enough interest in the area to have spawned several societies, the literature is dispersed in a number of primary journals, with little in the way of integration of the material into a book. Dr. Martin is one of the best known researchers in the area, and his research goes across subdisciplines in psychology to be of wide appeal. This is a singly authored monograph that provides in one source, a summary of information researchers might wish to know about research into the psychology of humor. The material is scholarly, but the presentation of the material is suitable for people unfamiliar with the subject-making The Psychology of Humor suitable for use for advanced undergraduate and graduate level courses on the psychology of humor-which have not had a textbook source. 2007 AATH Book Award for Humor/Laughter Research category! - Up-to-date coverage of research on humor and laughter in every area of psychology - Research findings are integrated into a coherent conceptual framework - Includes recent brain imaging studies, evolutionary models, and animal research - Draws on contributions from sociology, linguistics, neuroscience, and anthropology - Provides an overview of theories of humor and early research - Explores applications of humor in psychotherapy, education, and the workplace - Points out interesting topics for further research and promising research methodologies - Written in a scholarly yet easily accessible style - 2007 AATH Book Award for Humor/Laughter Research category

Reprint. Originally published in 1985 by the Free Press and Collier Macmillan. Zerubavel (sociology, Rutgers U.) discusses the rhythm that the week--an arbitrary invention--imposes on our activities. Annotation copyrighted by Book News, Inc., Portland, OR

A mystified archeologist, an Amish ghost, and avenging angels are just a few of the stories found in Beyond the Door, Volume 1, a twelve-story supernatural anthology. When multi-published authors get together for a play date, and are presented with a writing challenge they can’t resist, the results are not only surprising, they sometimes stretch the limits of their storytelling abilities. In the pages of Beyond the Door, the demons at play will not be what you expect. Where else can you find a robotic barista, a vengeful little girl, and a murderous goddess who wants to come out and play? What else may be lurking Beyond the Door? Interview with the Writers Q: What possessed four otherwise normal writers to write such dark and horrifying stories? A.B. Alvarez: It was the only way I could get them to unlock the basement door so I could get something to eat. Seriously. Serena B. Miller: Wait a minute. You got out? Jesse R. Lyle: The real answer is, A.B. didn’t see the sign that said “Push To Open”. Poor guy would have starved to death pulling on that door if we hadn’t opened it for him… we had to come up with some sort of story to help save his dignity. Derek E. Miller: I was the last to say “Not It” when it came to there being a responsible adult watching these hooligans so I was stuck with them all weekend. I went to dark places in my mind to escape the reality I was stuck in so figured I might as well put the dark places on paper. Q: Serena B. Miller, what was it like writing a dark Amish story? A: It was freeing, actually. I love and admire my Amish friends, but there is a dark side to the Amish that romance writers are expected to ignore. It is inevitable that a culture as strict as theirs can take a toll on the psyche. Sometimes that toll presents itself in extreme depression. Q: Derek E. Miller, do you always wear a bulletproof vest when you write? A: True story. Grandpa always did the dishes for grandma. He would say, “Proven scientific fact. No man has been shot by his wife while doing dishes.” Well seeing how I’m not helping do dishes, laundry, or mowing the lawn when writing, I can’t be too careful. Q: Jesse R. Lyle, are the tattoos all over your body the inspiration for your story Ancient Runes? A: Yes and No. The inspiration comes from knowing that everyone has a story whether big or small. And some of those stories are just like tattoos, some are hilarious or regretful, some are meaningful or spiritual, and yet some, are private reminders of a struggle or addiction one is trying to overcome. I guess the take-away is, be willing to listen, and pay attention to the people around you. Q: A.B. Alvarez, what is it with you and having to chop off body parts in your stories? A: There was no hacking of body parts in the Kidnapping Anna Trilogy though there was a lot of computer hacking. I think I had pent up body-hacking impulses that came out in the abandoned farmhouse where we did our writing. It is also true that the farmhouse was not abandoned, not filled with cobwebs, and not dark and foreboding thereby keeping me up every night wondering if I was going to make it out alive. Except that it was.