Originally appearing as an issue of American Quarterly, these essays take a close look at American humor from revolutionary times to the present day, focusing in particular on the neglected trends of the past fifty years.

This book is the first full-length annotated bibliography of the works of humorist Robert Benchley. It contains chapters on his books, essays, newspaper writings, dramatic criticism, plus a filmography and a discography. Also included is a chapter on secondary sources about his life. When humorist Robert Benchley died in 1945 at the age of 56, he left behind a large body of little-known material. Some of this material was collected into book form during and after Benchley's lifetime, but much of it remains uncollected. This annotated bibliography brings together in one volume citations to most of Benchley's collected and uncollected works. The volume contains chapters on Benchley's books, essays, newspaper writings, dramatic criticism, secondary sources about him, a filmography, and a discography. The books chapter contains all of Benchley's major books and lists the contents of each. The chapters on his essays and newspaper writings detail his work for such publications as the New Yorker, Life, Liberty, Vanity Fair, the New York Tribune, New York World, and the Chicago Tribune. The dramatic criticism chapter contains all his theater reviews, for Life and the New Yorker, with the titles of the reviewed plays and the authors for each. Entries are numbered, cross-referenced, and indexed to assist the reader.

First published in 1988, this book contains entries on famous American Humorists. Humor has been present in American literature, from the beginning, and has developed characteristics that reflect the American character, both regional and national. Although American literature was, in the past, treated as inferior to British literature, there has always been a large popular audience for the genre, which this book shows. The figures with entries in this encyclopedia not only amuse in their writing, but also aim to enlighten- setting out to expose the foibles and foolishness of society and the individuals who compose it. It is the manner in which these authors try to accomplish this end that determines whether they appear in the volume. Indeed, the book will demonstrate that the best humor has at its base, a ready understanding of human nature.

Robert C. Benchley's sketches and articles, published in periodicals like Life, Vanity Fair, and The New Yorker, earned him a reputation as one of the sharpest humorists of his time; his influence—on contemporaries such as E. B. White, James Thurber, and S. J. Perelman, or followers like Woody Allen, Steve Martin, and Richard Pryor—has left an indelible mark on the American comic tradition. The Benchley Roundup collects those pieces, selected by Benchley's son Nathaniel, "which seem to stand up best over the years"-a compendium of the most endearing and enduring work from one of America's funniest and most penetrating wits. "It took me fifteen years to discover that I had no talent for writing, but I couldn't give it up because by then I was too famous." —Robert Benchley

This groundbreaking new source of international scope defines the essay as nonfictional prose texts of between one and 50 pages in length. The more than 500 entries by 275 contributors include entries on nationalities, various categories of essays such as generic (such as sermons, aphorisms), individual major works, notable writers, and periodicals that created a market for essays, and particularly famous or significant essays. The preface details the historical development of the essay, and the alphabetically arranged entries usually include biographical sketch, nationality, era, selected writings list, additional readings, and anthologies

All knowledge, the totality of all questions and answers, is contained in the dog. So wrote Franz Kafka, and those who cherish man' s best friend will find plenty to enjoy in this appealing, delightfully illustrated compilation. The quotations extend from Shakespeare and Sartre to Groucho Marx and Woodrow Wilson, and range from adoring to amusing.