The Penguin Book of Women's Humor [Paperback]

Regina Barreca (Editor)

Book Description

Publication Date: May 1, 1996

This anthology looks at the genre of women's humour and illuminates the ways in which women's humour differs from men's. It aims to destroy the assumption that humour is universal and shows it instead as marked by subjectivity and bound by gender. The book contains essays, short stories, dramas, and poems, on a range of subjects, from a variety of women including Anita Loos, Mae West, Moms Mabley, Erma Bombeck, Lily Tomlin, Elayne Boosler, Jane Austen, Emily Dickinson, Louisa May Alcott and Dorothy Parker.

Editorial Reviews

From Library Journal

In earlier days, a book like this would probably have been called a "treasury" of women's humor, which would have been appropriate because its 700 or so delicious pages are chockfull of treasures wicked, witty, and wonderful. Just about every well-known woman who said or wrote something funny is represented here, from Aphra Behn to Elaine Boosler, from Erma Bombeck to Roz Chast and Nicole Hollander (yes, cartoonists are represented too). Edited by the author of They Used To Call Me Snow White: Women's Strategic Use of Humor (LJ 3/15/91), selections range from one-liners to longer excerpts from books. Most of these examples are just long enough to pique the reader's interest to seek out the source volume and see just how funny the author is?as when Fannie Flagg describes a woman's secret life as Towanda the Avenger (from Fried Green Tomatos at the Whistle Stop Cafe, Random, 1987). Selections are in alphabetical order by author's name, so the reader can easily find a favorite, but it's great fun just to open to any page and enjoy the delight found there. Essential for public libraries.?Audrey Eaglen, Cuyahoga Cty. P.L., Parma, Ohio
Copyright 1995 Reed Business Information, Inc.

From Booklist

Barreca, author of the groundbreaking book, They Used to Call Me Snow White...but I Drifted: Women's Strategic Use of Humor (1991), gets it just right when she introduces this gratifyingly substantial and thoroughly invigorating anthology by stating that women's humor has always been a "tool for survival" and a "weapon against the absurdities of injustice." There is, indeed, something radical about funny women. Men have long devalued the intellect, perspective, and wit of women, an attempt at oppression that has only inspired higher levels of satire and wisecracking. Barreca has searched far and wide for prime examples of triumphant women's humor, tapping into the routines of such comics as Whoopi Goldberg and Paula Poundstone as well as the work of "serious" writers, including Emily Dickinson, Elizabeth Bowen, Fay Weldon, and Virginia Woolf. This volume, which also includes such expected luminaries as Dorothy Parker, Fran Lebowitz, and Molly Ivins, is full of delectable and memorable surprises as Barreca quotes women joking about everything from anatomy to housekeeping, shoes, and marriage. To quote Mae West, "Too much of a good thing can be wonderful." Donna Seaman

Product Details

• Paperback: 704 pages
• Publisher: Penguin (Non-Classics) (May 1, 1996)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0140172947
• ISBN-13: 978-0140172942
• Product Dimensions: 7.6 x 4.8 x 1.3 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (2 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,348,379 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Deemed a "feminist humor maven" by Ms. Magazine and "Very, very funny. For a woman" by Dave Barry, Gina Barreca is most recently the author of It's Not That I'm Bitter: How I Learned to Stop Worrying About Visible Panty Lines and Conquered the World (St. Martin's, 2009/ppb. 2010). She has appeared on 20/20, 48 Hours, NPR, the BBC, The Today Show, CNN, Joy Behar, and Oprah to discuss gender, power, politics, and humor. Her earlier books, include the bestselling They Used to Call Me Snow White But I Drifted: Women's Strategic Use of Humor, as well as Perfect Husband and Other Fairy Tales: Demystifying Men, Marriage and Romance, Sweet Revenge: The Wicked Delights of Getting Even, and Babes in Boyland: A Personal History of Coeducation in the Ivy League; her books have been translated into several languages, including Chinese, Spanish, Japanese, and German. She's the editor of seventeen books, including The Signet Book of American Humor and The Penguin Book of Women's Humor as well as The Erotics of Instruction and A Sit-Down With the Sopranos. She writes for the "Brainstorm" section of The Chronicle of Higher Education and blogs for Psychology Today, does a weekly column for The Hartford Courant, a monthly column for Principal Leadership, and occasionally spars with her former co-author (of I'm With Stupid: One Man. One Woman. 10,000 Years of Misunderstandings Between the Sexes Cleared Right Up) Gene Weingarten in his "Below the Beltway" column in The Washington Post. With degrees from Dartmouth College, Cambridge University, and the City University of New York, Barreca is Professor of English and Feminist Theory at the University of Connecticut.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars hilarious, February 16, 2005

By 

lisa terwilliger (connecticut) - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Penguin Book of Women's Humor (Paperback)

one of my favorites. a hilarious compilation of essays and excerpts from the funniest female writers all through history.

5 of 12 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars So much fun, November 27, 1999

By A Customer

This review is from: The Penguin Book of Women's Humor (Paperback)

I only wish there was a sequel