Overview

In a major work of scholarship that explores the funny side of some very serious business (and vice versa), Jeremy Dauber examines the origins of Jewish comedy and its development from biblical times to the age of Twitter. Organizing Jewish comedy into ""seven strands""-including the satirical, the witty, and the vulgar-he traces the ways Jewish comedy has mirrored, and sometimes even shaped, the course of Jewish history. Dauber also explores the classic works of such masters of Jewish comedy as Sholem Aleichem, Isaac Babel, Franz Kafka, the Marx Brothers, Woody Allen, Joan Rivers, Philip Roth, Mel Brooks, Sarah Silverman, Jon Stewart, and Larry David, among many others.

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Reviews

You can't understand comedy without knowing Jewish comedy-and you'll find no smarter, more intrepid, and surprising analysis of the subject than in this book. From the Bible to Kafka to Seinfeld and beyond, Jeremy Dauber's incisive wit and deep erudition makes Jewish Comedy an essential read for anyone curious about what makes us laugh. -- Jason Zinoman, author of Letterman: The Last Giant of Late Night This book is brilliant, endlessly revelatory, and Jeremy Dauber is that rare scholar and critic of real depth who doesn't just make his subject accessible but animates it with the strength of his prose. He's also one of the few writers I've encountered who can explain a joke without killing it. Bravo. -- Sam Lipsyte, author of The Fun Parts In this brilliant and groundbreaking book, Jeremy Dauber shows that Jerry Seinfeld and Sarah Silverman are just the latest members of an ancient tradition of Jewish humor that stretches all the way back to the Bible. Writing with dazzling scholarly insight and in a style as appealing as his subject, Dauber reveals what made Jews laugh over the centuries. In doing so, he tells a crucial part of the story of Judaism. -- Adam Kirsch, author of The People and the Books An erudite survey of the evolution and distinctiveness of Jewish humor. [Dauber] offers . . . a wide-ranging and insightful cultural analysis. -- Kirkus Reviews Dauber pulls off the impressive feat of discussing humor without sucking the life out of it in this insightful and funny analysis of Jewish humor. . . . Dauber has provided . . . the gold standard for understanding what people of any ethnicity, nationality, or political persuasion find funny, and why. -- Publishers Weekly From Kafka to Mad magazine, [Dauber] delicately mixes scholarship with comedy in what is an entertaining and even profound book. -- Booklist (Starred review) Both erudite and breezy. . . . Dauber's breadth left me breathless and his depth left me in his debt. -- Adam Rovner - Forward Dauber recognizes the multiplicity of Jewish humour and wisely resists any single characterisation of it. . . . [He] deftly surveys the whole recorded history of Jewish humour. -- The Economist

This book is brilliant, endlessly revelatory, and Jeremy Dauber is that rare scholar and critic of real depth who doesn't just make his subject accessible but animates it with the strength of his prose. He's also one of the few writers I've encountered who can explain a joke without killing it. Bravo.--Sam Lipsyte, author of The Fun Parts Thoughtful.... Fascinating.--Mark Horowitz A serious study, and most interesting at its most serious and obscure.--Cathleen Schine Both erudite and breezy.... Dauber's breadth left me breathless and his depth left me in his debt.--Adam Rovner A serious and good philosophical work... that doesn't consist entirely of jokes but has an awful lot of them in it.... Some of its jokes are laugh-out-loud funny, and some of them are poignantly beautiful.--David Baddiel An excellent new survey of Jewish humor from the Old Testament through Adam Sandler.--Joseph Epstein A comprehensive, accessible treatment of a complex subject. As the famous 1960s ad campaign for Levy's rye bread told us, you don't have to be Jewish to enjoy it.--Harvey Freedenberg Hugely smart and hugely readable.... Here is a serious book full of the reasons Jewish humor is as funny and influential as it is, whether it's a response to persecution or a social satire or intellectual or raunchy or ironic or folksy.--Jeff Simon Sharp and wide-ranging.... Dauber finds comedy in unexpected places.--Adam Wilson A brilliant and groundbreaking book.--Adam Kirsch, author of The People and the Books

Author Information

Jeremy Dauber is a professor of Jewish literature and American studies at Columbia University. He is the author of Jewish Comedy and The Worlds of Sholem Aleichem, both finalists for the National Jewish Book Award. He lives in New York City.

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