Books 😂

With sage advice on adding some laughter to oral presentations, this master guide to using humor in speeches teaches the tact and timing necessary for dropping successful one-liners. All speaking occasions can benefit from a little levity, and the right quip at the right time can put both the speaker and his or her audience at ease. The book is organized alphabetically so the speaker can easily find the right joke or piece of speaking advice; the entries under “G,” for example, include graduation speeches, dealing with glitches, and grabbing an audience. With the hundreds of jokes and expert advice in this collection, novices and more experienced speakers can add polish to their presentations and effectively open the ears of their listeners.

"If all is not lost, where is it?" "Some days you're the dog; some days you're the tree." There's no better way for a nervous speechmaker to win over an audience than with a good joke. Here are hundreds of them: anecdotes, one-liners, and deft definitions, as well as hysterical quotations from sources ranging from Mae West to Ronald Reagan. Here, to help you deliver this sure-fire material, are extensive tips on selecting the right joke, adapting it to fit the audience, practicing the delivery, and getting it across to best effect. Perfect for all occasions-weddings, birthdays, anniversaries, business presentations, and many more-this is an indispensable source for any speaker who wants to captivate and entertain an audience.

Do you dread speaking before an audience? Or are you a frequent speaker who wants to enliven your presentations? Either way, this book will help you overcome your nervousness and stimulate the audience by using humor. It covers the different kinds of audiences and how speakers can choose to present themselves. Also discussed are the different kinds of humor, how to select appropriate jokes and how to deliver them. In addition, the book contains several hundred jokes and quotes on a large variety of topics that can serve as the basis for your own personal library of favorites.

When E. B. White said “analyzing humor is like dissecting a frog; few people are interested and the frog dies,” he hadn’t seen Al Gini’s hilarious, incisive, and informative take on jokes, joke-telling, and the jokers who tell jokes. For Gini, humor is more than just foolish fun: it serves as a safety valve for dealing with reality that gives us the courage to endure that which we cannot understand or avoid. Not everyone tells jokes. Not everyone gets a joke, even a good one. But, Gini argues, joke-telling can act as both a sword and a shield to defend us from reality. As the late, great stand-up comic Joan Rivers put it: ‘If you can laugh at it, you can live with it!’ This book is for anyone who enjoys a good laugh, but also wants to know why.

Most of us laugh at something funny multiple times during a typical day. Humor serves multiple purposes and though there is a sizable and expanding research literature on the subject, the research is spread in a variety of disciplines. Until now there has been no systematic integration of that literature into a single book. The Psychology of Humor reviews the literature, integrating disperse findings from across subdisciplines in psychology, as well as related fields such as anthropology, biology, computer science, linguistics, and sociology. The book begins by defining humor, followed by a discussion of theories of humor, and then begins analyzing research findings from the various subdisciplines in psychology. Coverage includes the cognitive processes involved in humor, as well as the effects of humor on cognition, the neurobiology of humor, the social functions of humor, individual differences in personality and humor, the development of humor understanding and use over the lifespan, the association of humor with both physical and mental health, and applications of humor use in psychotherapy, education, and the workplace.

"Humor, like pornography, is famously difficult to define. We know it when we see it, but is there any way to figure out what we really find funny? In this fascinating investigation into the science of humor and laughter, neuroscientist Scott Weems uncovers what's happening in our heads when we giggle, guffaw, or double over with laughter. Beginning with the premise that humor arises from inner conflict in the brain, Weems explores such issues as why surprise is so important for humor, why computers are terrible at recognizing what's funny, and why cringe-worthy stereotypes make us laugh the hardest. From the role of insult jokes to the benefit of laughing for our immune system responses, Ha! reveals why humor is so idiosyncratic, and why how-to books alone will never help us become funnier people. Packed with the latest research, amusing anecdotes (and even a few jokes), Ha! is a delightful tour of why humor is so important to our daily lives. "

Toole's lunatic and sage novel introduces one of the most memorable characters in American literature, Ignatius Reilly, whom Walker Percy dubs "slob extraordinaire, a mad Oliver Hardy, a fat Don Quixote, a perverse Thomas Aquinas rolled into one." Set in New Orleans, A Confederacy of Dunces outswifts Swift, one of whose essays gives the book its title. As its characters burst into life, they leave the region and literature forever changed by their presence-Ignatius and his mother; Miss Trixie, the octogenarian assistant accountant at Levi Pants; inept, wan Patrolman Mancuso; Darlene, the Bourbon Street stripper with a penchant for poultry; Jones the jivecat in spaceage dark glasses.

In one complete volume, here are the five classic novels from Douglas Adams beloved Hitchhiker series.

The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy

Seconds before the Earth is demolished for a galactic freeway, Arthur Dent is saved by Ford Prefect, a researcher for the revised Guide. Together they stick out their thumbs to the stars and begin a wild journey through time and space.

The Restaurant at the End of the Universe

Facing annihilation at the hands of warmongers is a curious time to crave tea. It could only happen to the cosmically displaced Arthur Dent and his comrades as they hurtle across the galaxy in a desperate search for a place to eat.

Life, the Universe and Everything

The unhappy inhabitants of planet Krikkit are sick of looking at the night sky so they plan to destroy it. The universe, that is. Now only five individuals can avert Armageddon: mild-mannered Arthur Dent and his stalwart crew.

So Long, and Thanks for All the Fish

Back on Earth, Arthur Dent is ready to believe that the past eight years were all just a figment of his stressed-out imagination. But a gift-wrapped fishbowl with a cryptic inscription conspires to thrust him back to reality. So to speak.

Mostly Harmless

Just when Arthur Dent makes the terrible mistake of starting to enjoy life, all hell breaks loose. Can he save the Earth from total obliteration? Can he save the Guide from a hostile alien takeover? Can he save his daughter from herself?

Finlay Donovan is killing it except, she’s really not. The new book she promised her literary agent isn’t written, her ex-husband fired the nanny without telling her, and this morning she had to send her four-year-old to school with hair duct-taped to her head. When Finlay’s overheard discussing the plot of her new novel with her agent over lunch, she’s mistaken for a contract killer and inadvertently accepts an offer to dispose of a problem husband in order to make ends meet...and she soon discovers that crime in real life is a lot more difficult than its fictional counterpart.