{"product_id":"the-oxford-book-of-humorous-prose-from-william-caxton-to-pg-wodehouse","title":"The Oxford Book of Humorous Prose: From William Caxton to P.G. Wodehouse","description":"\u003cp\u003eIf puritanism is  as H.L. Mencken once said  the haunting fear that someone  somewhere  may be happy  then this glorious  monumental collection by one of Englands most popular humorists is a puritans nightmare. Focusing primarily on the 19th and 20th century  but with material dating back to Columbus  Frank Muir has packed this volume with enough joy and laughter to sink the Mayflower. The range of comic material is amazing--from the gentle  charming comedy of manners  to biting satire  to outrageous parody. There are excerpts from the novels of Jane Austen and P.G. Wodehouse and Mark Twain  complete short stories by O. Henry and Frank OConnor  classic tall tales from Australia (including one by \"Banjo\" Patterson  who also wrote \"Waltzing Matilda\")  passages from Groucho Marxs correspondence with Warner Brothers  newspaper columns written by Art Buchwald and Myles na Gopaleen (the novelist Flann OBrien)  a selection of Samuel Johnsons comic definitions  plus a sprinkling of egregious puns  witty sayings  and even the clever names of stores (such as the New York restaurant \"Just for the Halibut\" and the London beauty parlor \"Curl Up and Dye\"). Muir has gathered work from over two hundred writers and from every English-speaking country. Virtually all of your favorites are here: Jonathan Swift  Jane Austen  Charles Dickens  Laurence Sterne  Anita Loos  Ring Lardner  Alexander Woollcott  Robert Benchley  Dorothy Parker  S.J. Perelman  Damon Runyon  Fran Lebowitz  Joseph Heller  Evelyn Waugh  Garrison Keilor  Erma Bombeck  Tom Wolfe  and countless others. In addition  there are comic pieces from writers you wouldnt expect to find--such as Thomas Hardy or Lawrence Durrell--and many many writers you may not have discovered yet  such as Jerome K. Jerome or Daisy Ashford (who wrote an unintentionally hysterical novel at age nine  which she published in her thirties). Frank Muir is one of Britains best-loved humorists  the host of a highly popular television show and the prolific author of dozens of hilarious books  including the best-selling The Frank Muir Book. Here he provides not only a painfully funny collection  but also generous introductions to each writer  which are comic gems in themselves. Except for the occasional puritan  this is a book that everyone will enjoy.\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"My Store","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":44986002112565,"sku":"ByrdShop_0192141066","price":29.62,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0627\/8139\/0901\/files\/9780192141064.jpg?v=1770881155","url":"https:\/\/atxbooks.com\/products\/the-oxford-book-of-humorous-prose-from-william-caxton-to-pg-wodehouse","provider":"ATX Books","version":"1.0","type":"link"}