American Satire: An Anthology of Writings from Colonial Times to the Present [Paperback]

Nicholas Bakalar (Author), Stephen Kock (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: March 1, 1997

This entertaining, informative collection covers the best of American satire—from Ben Franklin's cutting satiric attacks to Nathaniel Hawthorne's Celestial Railroad, Calvin Trillin's Old Marrieds, Mark Twain's American Abroad to P.J. O'Rourke's The Innocents Abroad—Updated, a late 20th-century take on Twain's classic piece. "Entertaining and satisfying...An excellent introduction."—Amazon.com.

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com Review

This book satisfies both requirements of a good anthology. First, it stands on its own as an entertaining, satisfying book. Second, it acts as a valuable map, pointing the way to further investigation should an inspired reader choose to do so. Since it wears its serious intent on its sleeve, political satire finds favor with intellectuals (particularly academics) much more easily than other forms of humor. Thus, you can bet that American Satire spends plenty of time in the early days of the Republic. However, the pre-Civil War selections are very good and quite intelligible to the modern reader. Benjamin Franklin's "Rules by Which a Great Empire May Be Reduced to a Small One" and Washington Irving's "Tales of a Traveler" remain absolutely hilarious. Editor Nicholas Bakalar also introduces a little-known American satirist, Fanny Fern (1811-1872), who deserves a nickel for every newspaper column written since (except the ones for which Robert Benchley deserves a quarter). Even more admirable than the library spadework is Bakalar's inclusion of Art Buchwald, Kurt Vonnegut, Russell Baker, P.J. O'Rourke, and Molly Ivins. Though your favorite author may not be here, it's nice to see that American Satire doesn't suffer from the post-1950 fade-out common in books of the type. This book is an excellent introduction to American satire; it amply demonstrates that in this genre, at least, the United States has a literary tradition that ranks with the best. --Michael Gerber

Product Details

• Paperback: 480 pages
• Publisher: Plume (March 1, 1997)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0452011744
• ISBN-13: 978-0452011748
• Product Dimensions: 8 x 5 x 1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 11.5 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (1 customer review)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #743,329 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

12 of 12 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Enjoyable, August 14, 2000

By 

"pdfoy" - See all my reviews

This review is from: American Satire: An Anthology of Writings from Colonial Times to the Present (Paperback)

I'm 14 and read "American Satire" because I am very interested in the subject. This book was, in my opinion, was enjoyable and interesting. Some of the satire was over my head, therefore a little boring, but the nice thing about short stories is that you can always go back to them. Benjamin Franklin, Will Rogers, Ambrose Bierce, and Art Buchwald were my favorites. This book also gives a little background information on the authors who wrote the stories. My only problem with the book itself was that some of the stories are just excerpts from larger books. I would've liked to see the complete version of the "The Devil's Dictionary" because it is extremely funny. But if your interested in satire or American literature, this is something that you'll want to check out.