Laughing Matter: An Essay on the Comic

Why do we laugh? Do we really want to know why? We are torn between desire to understand the joyous human response of laughter and reluctance to expose the secret of our spontaneity to the rigors of intellectualizing, the labors of analysis. Marcel Gutwirth here offers a fresh approach to laughter and the full range of funny occasions-- from the artistry of Molire's Misanthrope to the unique nature of Beckett's comic wisdom.