The Comedian as Confidence Man: Studies in Irony Fatigue (Humor in Life & Letters) [Reprint ed.] 0814346790, 9780814346792

In this lively and fascinating analysis of humorists and their work, Will Kaufman breaks new ground with his irony fatig

118 56 4MB

English Pages 272 [273] Year 2019

Table of contents :
Cover Page
Title Page
Copyright Page
Contents
Acknowledgments
Introduction
Chapter 1. Sinclair Lewis, Garrison Keillor, and the Dangers of Grumbling through Minnesota
Chapter 2. Ben Franklin and Herman Melville: The Comedian as Confidence Man
Chapter 3. Lenny Bruce: “I’m not a comedian”
Chapter 4. Bill Hicks: “Bob, they’re just jokes”
Chapter 5. Kurt Vonnegut: “I had to laugh like hell”
Chapter 6. Mark Twain: “My hated nom de plume”
Chapter 7. Conclusion: A Bad Case of Irony Fatigue
Notes
List of Sources
Index

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The Comedian as Confidence Man: Studies in Irony Fatigue (Humor in Life & Letters) [Reprint ed.]
0814346790, 9780814346792

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Citation preview

COMEDI�N CONFIDENCE MAN

THE

CONlEDI�N AS

CONFIDENCE MAN

Humor in Life and Letters Series A complete listing of the books in this series can be found on line at wsupress.wayne.edu General Editor

SARAH BLACHER COHEN State University of New York, Albany

Advisory Editors

JOSEPH BOSKIN Boston University

ALAN DUNDES University of California, Berke\ey WILLlAM F. FRY, JR. Stanford University Medical School

DoN L. F. NILSEN Arizona State University

JUNE SocHEN Northeastern Illinois University

THE

COMEDIA.N AS

CONFIDENCE MAN Studies in Irony Fatigue

Will

Kaufman

Copyright © 1997 by Wayne State University Press, Detroit, Michigan 48202, All rights are reseRVed. No part of this book may be reproduced without fonnal pennission.

Hcl paf€rbock edition © 2019.

library of CongNss Calaloging-in.Pub1ication Data Kaufman, Will. The comedian as confidence man: st udies in irony fatigue / Will Kaufman. p.

cm. - (Humor in life and letters series)

Includes bibliographical references and index. ISBN 978·0·8143-4679·2 I. Irony in literature. 2. Comic, The, in literature. I. Title. 11, Series: HUffiOr in life and letters. PN56.165K38 1997 809'.918--