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Humor in Middle Eastern Cinema
by Gayatri Devi Najat RahmanWhile Middle Eastern culture does not tend to be associated with laughter and levity in the global imagination, humor--often satirical--has long been a staple of mainstream Arabic film. In Humor in Middle Eastern Cinema, editors Gayatri Devi and Najat Rahman shed light on this tradition, as well as humor and laughter motivated by other intent--including parody, irony, the absurd, burlesque, and dark comedy. Contributors trace the proliferation of humor in contemporary Middle Eastern cinema in the works of individual directors and from the perspectives of genre, national cinemas, and diasporic cinema. Humor in Middle Eastern Cinema explores what humor theorists have identified as an "emancipatory," "liberatory," even "revolutionary" function to humor. Among the questions contributors ask are: How does Middle Eastern cinema and media highlight the stakes and place of humor in art and in life? What is its relation to the political? Can humor in cinematic art be emancipatory? What are its limits for its intervention or transformation? Contributors examine the region's masterful auteurs, such as Abbas Kiarostami, Youssef Chahine, and Elia Suleiman and cover a range of cinematic settings, including Egypt, Iran, Israel, Lebanon, Palestine, Syria, Tunisia, and Turkey. They also trace diasporic issues in the distinctive cinema of India and Pakistan. This insightful collection will introduce readers to a variety of contemporary Middle Eastern cinema that has attracted little critical notice. Scholars of cinema and media studies as well as Middle Eastern cultural history will appreciate this introduction to a complex and fascinating cinema.
Humor in Uniform: Funny True Stories about Life in the Military
by Editors of Reader's DigestIf laughter is the best medicine, then look no further to cure whatever ails you. The column “Offbase,” formally known as “Humor in Uniform,” has appeared in the Reader's Digest magazine for over half a century, and has published more than 3,500 jokes, quotes, and funny stories from the more than a million readers who have submitted them. This volume—from the world’s #1 source of humor—contains laugh-out-loud gems from one of Reader’s Digest’s most popular columns.<p> This side-splitting collection of humor delivers hundreds of the best jokes, anecdotes, cartoons, quotes, and stories from men and women in the armed forces or their families proving that life is often funnier than fiction.
Humor in the Caribbean Literary Canon (New Caribbean Studies)
by Sam VásquezHumor in the Caribbean Literary Canon by Sam Vásquez.
Humor of a Country Lawyer
by Sam J. ErvinOriginally published in 1984, Senator Ervin's delightful collection of stories and anecdotes winds its way from his native Morganton through Chapel Hill and Harvard, the military, the North Carolina Supreme Court, the United States Senate, and Watergate. It represents a lifetime of wit and wisdom--told in the late Senator Ervin's inimitable style.
Humor, Seriously: Why Humor Is a Secret Weapon in Business and Life (And how anyone can harness it. Even you.)
by Jennifer Aaker Naomi BagdonasAnyone—even you!—can learn how to harness the power of humor in business (and life), based on the popular class at Stanford's Graduate School of Business. &“The ultimate guide to using the magical power of funny as a tool for leadership and a force for good.&”—Daniel H. Pink, #1 New York Times bestselling author of When and DriveThere exists a mistaken belief in today&’s corporate world: that we have to be serious all the time in order to be taken seriously. But the research tells a different story: that humor can be one of the most powerful tools we have for accomplishing serious things. Studies show that humor makes us appear more competent and confident, strengthens relationships, unlocks creativity, and boosts our resilience during difficult times. Plus, it fends off a permanent and unsightly frown known as &“resting boss face.&”Top executives are in on the secret: 98 percent prefer employees with a sense of humor, and 84 percent believe that these employees do better work. But even for those who intuitively understand humor&’s power, few know how to wield it with intention. As a result, humor is vastly underleveraged in most workplaces today, impacting our performance, relationships, and health.That&’s why Jennifer Aaker and Naomi Bagdonas teach the popular course Humor: Serious Business at the Stanford Graduate School of Business, where they help some of the world&’s most hard-driving, blazer-wearing business minds build levity into their organizations and lives. In Humor, Seriously, they draw on findings by behavioral scientists, world-class comedians, and inspiring business leaders to reveal how humor works and—more important—how you can use more of it, better.Aaker and Bagdonas unpack the theory and application of humor: what makes something funny and how to mine your life for material. They show how to use humor to make a strong first impression, deliver difficult feedback, persuade and motivate others, and foster cultures where levity and creativity can thrive—not to mention, how to keep it appropriate and recover if you cross a line.President Dwight David Eisenhower once said, &“A sense of humor is part of the art of leadership, of getting along with people, of getting things done.&” If Dwight David Eisenhower, the second least naturally funny president ever (after Franklin Pierce), thought humor was necessary to win wars, build highways, and warn against the military-industrial complex, then you might consider learning it too.Seriously.
Humoradas
by Carlos SilveyraLos juegos con el lenguaje, propios de la literatura oral, alcanzan su esplendor en aquellas manifestaciones vinculadas al humor. Los juegos con el lenguaje, propios de la literatura oral, alcanzan su esplendor en aquellas manifestaciones vinculadas al humor. En esta obra, Carlos Silveyra -escritor, doecente y periodista- recopila materiales del folclore infantil de Iberoamérica, algunos de los cuales se presentan por primera vez en un libro.
Humorists: From Hogarth to Noel Coward (P. S. Ser.)
by Paul JohnsonThe author of the masterly volumes Intellectuals, Creators, and Heroes returns with a collection of biographical portraits of the greatest humorists and wits in history. In Intellectuals, Paul Johnson offered a fascinating portrait of the minds that have shaped the modern world. In Creators, he examined a host of outstanding and prolific creative spirits. And in Heroes, he brought together a galaxy of commanding figures from the annals of Western history. Now Johnson turns his impressive intellect and piercing insight to the finest wits of the Western world. His is a selective survey across history and includes a diverse cast of legendary humorists who got a grand kick out of life, including Benjamin Franklin and the Marx Brothers, Charles Dickens and Damon Runyon, W. C. Fields and Samuel Johnson, William Hogarth and James Thurber. Including darkest humor, broad satire, bawdy wit, biting sarcasm, and more, this entertaining and erudite collection showcases some of our sharpest minds reflecting on the human condition's follies, pretensions, and foibles with that greatest of gifts: humor.
Humorous American Short Stories: Selections from Mark Twain to Others Much More Recent (Dover Thrift Editions)
by Bob BlaisdellIncludes James Thurber's "The Secret Life of Walter Mitty," a 2013 motion picture! Spanning nearly 300 years of American humor, this anthology of entertaining tales ranges from the inventive mind of Benjamin Franklin and his 1732 story, "Alice Addertongue," to Simon Rich's 2012 fable, "Center of the Universe." More than 30 witty short stories include works by Mark Twain, Harriet Beecher Stowe, O. Henry, Langston Hughes, and other masters of the genre.Nineteenth-century stories include Washington Irving's classic, "Rip Van Winkle: A Posthumous Tale of Diedrich Knickerbocker," "A Jersey Centenarian" by Bret Harte, and Lucretia P. Hale's "The Peterkins Decide to Learn the Languages." From later eras come Ring Lardner's "The Golden Honeymoon," "A Telephone Call" by Dorothy Parker, "The Secret Life of Walter Mitty" by James Thurber, Philip Roth's "The Conversion of the Jews," and "Harrison Bergeron" by Kurt Vonnegut, Jr.
Humour
by Terry EagletonA compelling guide to the fundamental place of humour and comedy within Western culture—by one of its greatest exponents Written by an acknowledged master of comedy, this study reflects on the nature of humour and the functions it serves. Why do we laugh? What are we to make of the sheer variety of laughter, from braying and cackling to sniggering and chortling? Is humour subversive, or can it defuse dissent? Can we define wit? Packed with illuminating ideas and a good many excellent jokes, the book critically examines various well-known theories of humour, including the idea that it springs from incongruity and the view that it reflects a mildly sadistic form of superiority to others. Drawing on a wide range of literary and philosophical sources, Terry Eagleton moves from Aristotle and Aquinas to Hobbes, Freud, and Bakhtin, looking in particular at the psychoanalytical mechanisms underlying humour and its social and political evolution over the centuries.
Humour Theory and Stylistic Enquiry
by Taiwo Oloruntoba-OjuThis edited book brings together scholarly chapters on linguistic aspects of humour in literary and non-literary domains and contexts in different parts of the world. Previous scholarly engagements and theoretical postulations on humour and the comic provide veritable resources for reexamining the relationship between linguistic elements and comic sensations on the one hand, and the validity of interpretive humour stylistics on the other hand. Renowned Stylistics scholars, such as Michael Toolan, who writes the volume’s foreword against the backdrop of nearly four decades of scholarly engagement with stylistics, and Katie Wales, who in this volume engages with Charles Dickens, one of the most eminent satirists in English literature, as well as many other European and African authors who have worked ceaselessly in the area of humour and language, weigh in on the topic of language and humour in this volume. Together, they provide a variety of interesting perspectives on the topic, deploying different textual sources from different media and from different regions of the world. Part of the book’s offering includes integrative stylistic approaches to humour in African, European and American written texts, examinations of social media and political humour in Nigeria, Cameroon and Zimbabwe, pragmatics and humorous stance-taking, incongruity as comedy in works of fiction, and a unified levels of linguistic analysis approach to the investigation of humour. This book will be of interest to academics and students of Linguistics, Stylistics, Communications and Media Studies, and Humour Studies. Taiwo Oloruntoba-Oju is a Professor in the Department of English at the University of Ilorin in Nigeria
Humour and the Performance of Power in South Asia: Anxiety, Laughter and Politics in Unstable Times
by Sasanka Perera Dev Nath PathakThis book critically examines the role and politics of humour and the performance of power in South Asia. What does humour do and how does it manifest when lived political circumstances experience ruptures or instability? Can humour that emerges in such circumstances be viewed as a specific narrative on the nature of democracy in the region? Drawing upon essays from India, Sri Lanka and Bangladesh, this volume discusses many crucial historical and contemporary themes, including dance-drama performances in northern India; caste and stand-up comedy in India; cartoon narratives of citizens’ anxieties; civic participation through social media memes in Sri Lanka; media, politics and humorous public in Bangladesh; the politics of performance in India; and the influence of humour and satire as political commentaries. The volume explores the impact of humour in South Asian folklore, ritual performances, media and journalism, and online technologies. This topical and interdisciplinary book will be essential for scholars and researchers of cultural studies, political science, sociology and social anthropology, media and communication studies, theatre and performance studies, and South Asian studies.
Humour in Asian Cultures: Tradition and Context (Routledge Studies on Asia in the World)
by Jessica Milner DavisThis innovative book traces the impact of tradition on modern humour across several Asian countries and their cultures. Using examples from Japan, Korea, Indonesia and Chinese cultures in Mainland China, Hong Kong and Taiwan, the contributors explore the different cultural rules for creating and sharing humour. Humour can be a powerful lubricant when correctly interpreted; mis-interpreted, it is likely to cause considerable setbacks. Over time, it has emerged and submerged in different periods and different forms in all these countries but today’s conventions still reflect traditional attitudes to and assumptions about what is appropriate in creating and using humour. Under close examination, Milner Davis and her colleagues show how forms and conventions that differ from those in the west can also be seen to possess elements in common. With examples including Mencian and other classical texts, Balinese traditional verbal humour, Korean and Taiwanese workplace humour, Japanese laughter ceremonies, performances and cartoons, as well as contemporary Chinese-language films and videos, they engage with a wide range of forms and traditions. This fascinating collection of studies will be of great interest to students and scholars of many Asian cultures, and also to those with a broader interest in humour studies. It highlights the increasing importance of understanding a wider range of cultural values in the present era of globalized communication and the importance of reliable studies of why and how cultures that are geographically related differ in their traditional uses of and assumptions about humour.
Humour in Old English Literature: Communities of Laughter in Early Medieval England
by Jonathan WilcoxHumour in Old English Literature deploys modern theories of humour to explore the style and content of surviving writing from early medieval England. The book analyses Old English riddles, wisdom literature, runic writing, the deployment of rhymes, and humour in heroic poetry, hagiography, and romance. Drawing on a fine-tuned understanding of literary technique, the book presents a revisionist view of Old English literature, partly by reclaiming often-neglected texts and partly by uncovering ironies and embarrassments within well-established works, including Beowulf. Most surprisingly, Jonathan Wilcox engages the large body of didactic literature, pinpointing humour in two anonymous homilies along with extensive use in saints’ lives. Each chapter ends by revealing a different audience that would have shared in the laughter. Wilcox suggests that the humour of Old English literature has been scantily covered in past scholarship because modern readers expect a dour and serious corpus. Humour in Old English Literature aims to break that cycle by highlighting works and moments that are as entertaining now as they were then.
Humpty Dumpty Climbs Again
by Dave HorowitzHumpty Dumpty is humiliated. All the King's Horses and All the King's Men make fun of him and his embarrassing fall every chance they get. So Humpty Dumpty holes up in his home, determined to never climb another wall. Until a friend needs his help. In this silly play on traditional nursery rhymes Humpty is given the chance to show that the best thing to do after you fall off the horse (or wall, in this case) is to get right back on."Illustrated with big, clear, line-and-watercolor cartoons, Horowitz's simple rhyming text is both a parody of nursery rhymes and a fun story. Children will enjoy the puns and the play with the Mother Goose verses that they know." - Booklist
Humpty Dumpty Lived Near a Wall
by Derek Hughes"Wickedly, subversively brilliant." - Kirkus Reviews (Starred Review)"This book cracked me up and left a smile on my face (spoiler alert)" - Adam Rubin, #1 New York Times best-selling author of Dragons Love TacosLooks like the wall has finally met its match. This classic tale gets a modern twist with a Humpty Dumpty for a new generation."Humpty Dumpty lived near a wall..." begins this well-known fable. But this time Humpty is ready for battle, with a secret mission and a touch of mischief. Can all the King's horses and all the King's men help put Humpty together again? Or maybe the mission, no matter how small, is simply to question the point of a wall.
Humpty's Fall
by Dosh ArcherHumpty Dumpty arrives at City Hospital with a cracked shell. All the kings' men tried to help him, but all they did was make him leak yolk. Can he be fixed? With thickly illustrated pages, this story brings a unique twist to a well-known nursery rhyme, making it perfect for beginning readers who will wait to see if Doctor Glenda and Nurse Percy can save the day and put this egg back together again.
Hunches in Bunches (Classic Seuss)
by Dr. SeussWhat&’s a person to do when there is so much to do? Dr. Seuss adds his signature spin to the age-old dilemma of indecisiveness in his rhyming picture-book classic Hunches in Bunches. Go outside, play video games, eat a pizza, do homework? Whether you have a &“four-way hunch,&” a &“nowhere hunch,&” or an &“up hunch,&” Dr. Seuss and his unmistakable one-of-a-kind advice will ensure that readers of all ages won&’t get &“ga-fluppted.&”
Hunches in Bunches: Read & Listen Edition (Classic Seuss)
by Dr. SeussWhat&’s a person to do when there is so much to do? Dr. Seuss adds his signature spin to the age-old dilemma of indecisiveness in his rhyming picture-book classic Hunches in Bunches. Go outside, play video games, eat a pizza, do homework? Whether you have a &“four-way hunch,&” a &“nowhere hunch,&” or an &“up hunch,&” Dr. Seuss and his unmistakable one-of-a-kind advice will ensure that readers of all ages won&’t get &“ga-fluppted.&”This Read & Listen edition contains audio narration.
Hunger
by Kate Douglas A. C. Arthur Eve LanglaisDive into Hunger, a paranormal romance anthology by New York Times bestselling author Eve Langlais, Kate Douglas, and A.C. Arthur!A brand new, never before published novella! In The Alpha’s Mate, villains aren’t supposed to rescue damsels, and pack alphas are known to have complete control of their wolf. But when Fabian saves a certain lady from drowning, everything he knows gets tossed away and only one thing becomes clear: she’s his mate—and someone wants to kill her. Hell no. Protecting her, though, is only part of his problem. He also has to convince her she belongs to him. In her words, “Hell no.” When she flees, little does she realize this wolf loves to chase. And when he catches the woman he wants? She’ll become the Alpha’s Mate. Previously published in the 2-in-1 e-original Claimed by the Mate Volume 3 and in print for the first time! In Dangerous Passions, finding a mate shouldn’t be all that difficult for a sexy werewolf on the prowl. Modern women want romance and seduction, and Feral Passions Resort has served that purpose for providing both for the men of the Trinity Alps pack. Only two are still unmated—alpha leader Traker Jakes and his lieutenant Evan Dark—but danger stalks the women they’ve chosen. Danger that threatens everyone in the pack at Feral Passions. In Bound to the Wolf, Marena Panos is an attorney with a dark secret that follows her into the mountains and into the bed of a Phelan Sava, a lycan whose strength and shared penchant for pleasure/pain will eventually own her body and soul.
Hunger Point: A Novel
by Jillian Medoff“[An] unusually honest, painfully funny novel about a tight-knit family’s struggle.” —Entertainment Weekly"My parents may love me, but I also know they view me as a houseguest who is turning a weekend stay into an all-expense-paid, lifelong residency, and who (to their horror) constantly forgets to flush the toilet and shut off the lights."Twenty-six-year-old Frannie Hunter has just moved back home. Bright, wry, blunt, and irreverent, she invites you to witness her family's unraveling. Her Harvard-bound sister is anorexic, her mother is having an affair, her father is obsessed with the Food Network, and her grandfather wants to plan her wedding (even though she has no fiancé, let alone a steady boyfriend). By turns wickedly funny and heartbreakingly bittersweet, Hunger Point chronicles Frannie's triumph over her own self-destructive tendencies, and offers a powerful exploration of the complex relationships that bind together a contemporary American family. You will never forget Frannie, a "sultry, suburban Holden Caulfield," whom critics have called "the most fully realized character to come along in years," (Paper) nor will you forget Hunger Point, an utterly original novel that stuns with its amazing insights and dazzles with its fresh, distinctive voice.
Hunger: A Novel
by Erica Simone TurnipseedIn Erica Simone Turnipseed's captivating follow-up to A Love Noire, heartache fans the flames of lust when freethinking Noire and Innocent, her urbane African ex, reunite.Noire and Innocent are both having a thirtysomething crisis. His former identity as a successful investment banker and eligible bachelor has disappeared. A beleaguered graduate student, she's got no money, no man, and no Ph.D., yet. A year of predoctoral research in Haiti leaves Noire drained. And a trip home to Côte d'Ivoire offers Innocent little more than intermittent sexual gratification. In the aftermath of 9/11, Innocent and Noire are back in New York City and find solace in each other's bed. But even that arrangement collapses under the weight of Innocent's revelation that he has unfinished business in Africa. For Innocent and Noire, patching together their unraveling lives becomes an exercise in hope and humility. With Hunger, Turnipseed lives up to the promise of A Love Noire and has matured into a writer who fearlessly explores the intersection of sex, love, identity, and loss in a cross-cultural context.
Hungry
by Alethea EasonDeborah is starting to notice things about her best friend, Willy-like how cute he looks in his Halloween costume and the adorable way his red hair curls just above his collar. He's the coolest boy in sixth grade, and the closest friend she's got . . . that is, until her alien parents tell her she has to eat him for dinner. After all, she's an alien, too-even if she and her family do live in disguise. Should she keep Willy alive and survive on forbidden hamburgers and chocolate . . . or point her tentacles at her best friend and gain approval from alien kind? There are times when everyone feels like they're from outer space. A zany adventure and a close and sympathetic look at middle-school friendships and rivalries, Alethea Eason's wonderfully unique first novel satisfies that craving to fit in.
Hungry Bird
by Jeremy TankardDo YOU ever get hangry?Bird is hiking with his friends when his tummy rumbles.But no one packed him a snack that he likes!With every step, his hunger mounts until he collapses on the ground.How will Bird survive if he doesn't eat the perfect something this instant?!The hilarious blue-feathered anti-hero who first starred in Jeremy Tankard's high-flying debut, Grumpy Bird, returns in another laugh out loud melodrama. For every child who has ever needed a snack right now, and for every parent who has had to cope with a hangry, fussy child, Hungry Bird is sure to satisfy.
Hungry Heart: Adventures in Life, Love, and Writing
by Jennifer Weiner"Generous and entertaining." —Publishers Weekly (starred review) Finalist for the PEN/Diamonstein-Spielvogel Award for the Art of the Essay * Nominated for &“Best Memoir & Autobiography&” by Goodreads Choice Awards 2016 * Named a &“Best Book of the Year&” by New York Post "You'll laugh, you'll cry, you'll want to read it again." —TheSkimm &“I'm mad Jennifer's Weiner's first book of essays is as wonderful as her fiction. You will love this book and wish she was your friend." —Mindy Kaling, author of Why Not Me? "Fiercely funny, powerfully smart, and remarkably brave." —Cheryl Strayed, author of WildJennifer Weiner is many things: a bestselling author, a Twitter phenomenon, and an &“unlikely feminist enforcer&” (The New Yorker). She&’s also a mom, a daughter, and a sister, a clumsy yogini, and a reality-TV devotee. In this &“unflinching look at her own experiences&” (Entertainment Weekly), Jennifer fashions tales of modern-day womanhood as uproariously funny and moving as the best of Nora Ephron and Tina Fey. No subject is off-limits in these intimate and honest essays: sex, weight, envy, money, her mother&’s coming out of the closet, her estranged father&’s death. From lonely adolescence to hearing her six-year-old daughter say the F word—fat—for the first time, Jen dives into the heart of female experience, with the wit and candor that have endeared her to readers all over the world.
Hungry Jim: (children's Emotion Books, Animal Books For Kids, Funny Children Books)
by Laurel SnyderWhen Jim wakes up one Tuesday morning, he doesn't feel like eating his pancakes. In fact, Jim doesn't feel like Jim. He feels rather, well, beastly. But he is hungry. Very hungry....This clever and relatable tale of moods from Laurel Snyder and Chuck Groenink offers a lighthearted depiction of the beastliness that lives inside all of us—and the power we have to put it in its place. Surprising yet satisfying, this richly illustrated book brims with humor that readers of all ages will be roaring to devour.