Humor is sometimes a serious business, especially the humor of Benjamin Franklin, a master at revealing the human condition through comedy. For the country's bicentennial, Reader's Digest named Franklin "Man of the Year" for embodying the characteristics we admire most about ourselves as Americans -- humor, irony, energy, and fresh insight. Recreating Franklin's words in the way that his contemporaries would have read and understood them, Paul M. Zall chronicles Franklin's use (and abuse) of humor for commercial, diplomatic, and political purposes. Dedicated to the uniquely appealing and enduring humor of Benjamin Franklin, Zall lovingly samples Franklin's apologues on the necessity of living reasonably even when life's circumstances may seem absurd.

About the Author
Paul M. Zall is professor emeritus of American studies at California State University at Los Angeles. He is a former senior researcher at the Huntington Library in Pasadena, California, and is the editor of Franklin on Franklin, Lincoln on Lincoln, Washington on Washington, and Jefferson on Jefferson. He lives in South Pasadena, California.

Reviews
The growth in Franklin's control of his comic sense is gradually revealed as Zall traces his wit from his youth to his old age. - ROBERT MIDDLEKAUFF, AUTHOR OF The Glorious Cause: The American Revolution 1763-1789



Book Information
ISBN 9780813123714
Author Paul M. Zall
Format Hardback
Page Count 200
Imprint The University Press of Kentucky
Publisher The University Press of Kentucky