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The Humor Code

A Global Search for What Makes Things Funny
Apr 26, 2014
So... I'll state my opinion FIRST, then I'll tell you the rationale behind it. Here goes: I'm glad I read the book. But I bought it, and I regret buying it. I shoulda checked to see if the library had it before making the impulse purchase, but alas I did not. The book was a thorough exloration of humor, so the authors were able to shed light on the subject from multiple angles, some of which I had never even considered before. Well done in that regard. It also reads like a science book - and I'm a fan of science writing - so I liked those qualities as well, citing studies and surveys and all in all, it was well researched. My beef, though, is that it was written so dryly, it got boring in a lot of places, and it pissed me off. The book's jacket synopsis also name-dropped Louis CK, who is absolutely hilarious as well as thoroughly self-aware, so I figured if they were gonna interview HIM, he could give a very lucid description of humor and its mechanisms. The authors totally botched that chance, though. The standup legend only made a brief appearance, maybe a couple paragraphs or so. Then, there is the actual thesis, the theory of humor the authors put forth. Theories are theories, I get it, but immediately I could think of exceptions to the "benign violation" model they are preaching. There's even mention (in passing) of a whole class of jokes that are what would be considered "violations", but never even come close to qualifying as being benign. The authors don't address this, though, they bring these jokes up as a means to illustrate something unrelated to their hypothesis, like the way jokes take root and spread or something like that. Anyway, all in all it might be interesting to read, but DO NOT buy this book. I don't think declaring this at a library is necessary, but just in case, heed my warning!