Detailed view for the Book: Isaac Asimov's Treasury of Humor

Title:

Isaac Asimov's Treasury of Humor
 

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Genres:

Humour & Satire

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Editions:

# Date Publisher Binding Cover
1 1971-00-00 Houghton Mifflin  

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Blurb: 
To millions of readers the world over Isaac Asimov is familiar as a prolific and erudite writer in the fields of science, science fiction, history, philology, bible studies, and most recently Shakespeare. What many may not know, unless they have been fortunate enough to hear him lecture, is that he is also an irresistible raconteur who could (in fact does) pursue what amounts to a second career as a great standup comic. Here is a lifetime harvest of his favorite anecdotes, jokes, puns, and scandalous verse-640 selections in all. Everything is included, from the original shaggy-dog story (in mercifully truncated form) to famous put-downs from ancient history, from the cerebral whimsies of Talmudic wit to the bawdiness of the barracks. There is bout to be something new to every reader, for Isaac Asimov"s taste ranges far and wide; moreover, many of the jokes are original and presented here for the first time. But this book is more than a glorious fund of humor made easily accessible to the most casual reader, for the author has interwoven the jokes with a very personal running commentary providing much informed advice on how to tell them effectively. He offers further anecdotes from his own experiences, both on the lecture platform and parties great and small, as well as gleanings from his philosophy of what humor (and life) is all about. So if you are a professional speaker (or perhaps even more important, an amateur speaker), use this book as a source of great stories with which to beguile your audiences. If you are a casual or curious browser, use it as an infinite source of pleasure and satisfaction. Either way you will find yourself in intimate contact with a man of boundless enthusiasm and good will, whose stories can"t fail to tickle your fancy and whose joy in life is blessedly contagious.
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