John Allen Paulos cleverly scrutinizes the mathematical structures of jokes, puns, paradoxes, spoonerisms, riddles, and other forms of humor, drawing examples from such sources as Rabelais, Shakespeare, James Beattie, Renรฉ Thom, Lewis Carroll, Arthur Koestler, W. C. Fields, and Woody Allen.
"Jokes, paradoxes, riddles, and the art of non-sequitur are revealed with great perception and insight in this illuminating account of the relationship between humor and mathematics."โJoseph Williams, New York Times
"'Leave your mind alone,' said a Thurber cartoon, and a really complete and convincing analysis of what humour is might spoil all jokes forever. This book avoids that danger. What it does. . .is describe broadly several kinds of mathematical theory and apply them to throw sidelights on how many kinds of jokes work."โNew Scientist
"Many scholars nowadays write seriously about the ludicrous. Some merely manage to be dull. A fewโlike Paulosโare brilliant in an odd endeavor."โLos Angeles Times Book Review