Humorists
From Hogarth to Noël Coward

Name: Humorists
Brand: Blackstone Audiobooks
Availability: InStock
Author: Paul Johnson
ISBN: 9781481569958

Author: Paul Johnson

Narrator: Clive Chafer

Unabridged: 6 hr 59 min

Format: Digital Audiobook Download

Publisher: Blackstone Publishing

Published: 11/23/2010

Categories: Nonfiction, Biography & Autobiography

Synopsis

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 legendary figures from the annals of Western history. Now, Johnson turns his impressive intellect and piercing insight to the greatest wits in the history 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 dark humor, broad satire, bawdy wit, biting sarcasm, and more, this entertaining and erudite collection brings to life great minds who reflected on life’s follies, pretensions, and foibles with that greatest of gifts: humor.

About Paul Johnson

Paul Johnson is a historian whose work ranges over the millennia and the whole gamut of human activities. He regularly writes book reviews for several UK magazines and newspapers, such as the Literary Review and the Spectator, and he lectures around the world. He lives in London.

About Clive Chafer

Clive Chafer is a professional actor, director, producer, and theater instructor. Originally from England and educated at Leeds and Exeter universities, he has performed and directed at many theaters in the San Francisco area, where he makes his home, and elsewhere in the US. In 1993 he founded TheatreFIRST, Oakland’s professional theater company, where he served as artistic director until 2008.

Reviews

Goodreads review by D.

Gliding over the lives of these humorists, Johnson creates a philosophy of humor. Many of these funny-men had very sad lives, but his chapter on G.K. Chesterton made up for the gloominess.......more

Goodreads review by Liz

A series of un-thorough biographies of a random assemblage of notable public figures whom Johnson has decided (through no clear method) are "humorists." His claims are often not cited and many chapters are marked by non sequiturs toward tangential issues beyond the scope of the humorist being discus......more

Goodreads review by AticoLibros

«Johnson es un escritor con un don genuino. La habilidad de transformar vastas extensiones de la historia en una narrativa absorbente le asegura público durante años.» THE NEW YORK TIMES «El talento de Johnson contando historias vívidas se combina con un asombroso dominio de grandes y complejos temas......more

Quotes

“This book’s long view, and its deep eccentricities, are what give it a burnished glow. You’ll want to consume it with good Scotch and (what the hell) maybe even a pipe…It’s a pleasure to sit around the gently crackling fire that is Mr. Johnson’s mind.” New York Times

“A tour de force…A remarkable achievement.” New York Times Book Review

“A magnificent achievement…brilliantly combines broad sweep with extraordinary detail.” Wall Street Journal

“Johnson masterfully weaves a narrative line among the figures, many of whom don’t spring to mind as comic, with a deep appreciation for their wit in writing, filmmaking, painting, and living.” Booklist (starred review)