Humor Theory

Jody Dyer slaps humor on everyday life as skillfully as a veteran line cook throws country ham on a flat top grill. Readers compare her to Lewis Grizzard and Fannie Flagg, but Dyer has a unique, modern, edgy voice with Appalachian roots and universal appeal. In Theories: Size 12, readers gain a new perspective on marching bands, zoos, sports parents, teachers, outdoor weddings, tailgates, bicycle guys, and much, much more. Dyer says what we're all thinking but afraid to say, and she does so with a rare combination of fearless wit and literary finesse—a combination as lip-smacking good as ...

Gabriel is a stranger in a small Breton town. Nobody knows where he came from or why he's here. Yet his small acts of kindness, and exceptional cooking, quickly earn him acceptance from the locals. His new friends grow fond of Gabriel, who seems as reserved and benign as the toy panda he wins at the funfair. But unlike Gabriel, the fluffy toy is not haunted by his past….

Family fun takes center stage in three-time Newbery Honor winner Gary Paulsen’s hilarious novel for middle-school boys. Kevin Spencer is the glue that holds his family together. When his wacky relatives decide to have a double wedding in the backyard, Kevin takes charge. Planning two weddings is a great way to impress his girlfriend, Tina Zabinski, the Most Beautiful and Best-Smelling Girl in the World.

Wanda Cox has never met a conspiracy theory she couldn’t podcast about. Armed with her trusty camera, her hit show “Cox’s Conspiracy Corner,” and enough skepticism to fill the Grand Canyon, she’s determined to prove Bigfoot is stomping through the redwoods of Shaggy Hollow—and save her faltering career in the process. Carter Reeves is a grumpy wilderness guide with zero patience for Bigfoot hunters. When he’s not meticulously tracking endangered marbled murrelets through the ancient redwoods, he’s avoiding tourists who think every shadow in the forest is Sasquatch’s cousin...

Nobody's supposed to see the Queen’s Platinum Jubilee before her Silver, yet Ben and Georgie do exactly that. Who in their right mind would agree to move into a mansion with their narcissistic ex-boss after stealing his job? Ben, apparently. When he joins Isaac’s Dungeons and Dragons party, the adventures begin in the cellar, but get disturbingly real when the players find a space-age capsule in the attic filled with vintage clothes and artefacts. The gang's first foray into the hermetically-sealed space ends in a mad scramble to escape before the computer initiates evacuation protocols...

The vast right wing conspiracy has found its General Patton, and his name is David Kahane. Kahane's pseudonymous, satiric column for National Review Online, lampooning the Left via his Hollywood-radical persona - Stephen Colbert's liberal doppelganger - is must-listening for political aficionados of all stripes. Now, from the inside, Kahane proudly exposes the secret and not-so-secret winning strategies (and vulnerabilities) of the Left.

In Don't Vote - It Just Encourages the Bastards, best-selling humorist P. J. O’Rourke delivers a hilarious theory of politics.

America’s most subversive conservative, O’Rourke describes government as a devil’s bargain between power, freedom, and responsibility, and goes on to hilariously skewer the politicians who have bargained with us to consolidate power, and the many mini-bargains and evasions that citizens have made with the consequences of their choices.

A corrupt police detective enjoying semi-retirement in Tidewater Virginia stumbles onto an unsolved homicide. Given his nature, he’d be happy to leave it unsolved, but a few of his friends and neighbors have other ideas and steer him to a chance at redemption.

A Neural Implant That Promised to Save Lives—Now It’s Killing Them. Five years after the launch of a groundbreaking neural implant designed to revolutionize healthcare, government agent Eric Snoughden stumbles upon a disturbing trend: a spike in unexplained deaths among low-income recipients. The deeper he digs, the clearer it becomes—this is no accident. Someone is targeting the victims and covering up the truth. With the help of a relentless journalist and unexpected allies from an escort agency, Eric unravels a high-stakes conspiracy woven through corporate greed, political ...

Jody Dyer has gained as much insight as she has weight since publishing her last book, Theories: Size 12, Laugh! You know you want to. Readers will recoil then real as Dyer shares her middle-aged perspective on BIG topics like: online dating, the myth that is natural beauty, orthopedic bras, adults in college, group work, becoming your mother, teacher money hustlers with ADHD, "not pyramid scheme" direct marketing, redneck money-saving summer skills, modernized senior superlatives, God and prayer in schools, school field day with millennial teachers, men vs. women at work, filing taxes as a...

Comic novelist and critic Paul McDonald explores the philosophy of humour in a book that will appeal to both philosophers and creative writers alike. There are numerous competing theories of humour and laughter, and the absence of a single theory implies the importance of assessing them all. One aim of this book is to do exactly that. It concentrates mainly on philosophical approaches to humour— including those of Plato, Aristotle, Cicero, Descartes, Hobbes, Bergson, Kant, Schopenhauer, Kierkegaard, Freud and Bakhtin. But the discussion explores other fields such as cultural studies, ...

A desperate voyage across the galaxy to save the human race... What could go wrong? "Like Hitchhiker's Guide... but they have no Guide!" "What's crazier than Alice jumping down the rabbit hole? Zaggar and Robbins' journey through a Wormhole! "Full of original ideas!" Will Ziegfeld Zaggar and his reluctant sidekick, Jack Robbins, finally get a few minutes to relax after their journey across parallel worlds trying to save the Multiverse from a bad case of accelerated entropy? Or will they be interrupted by a dirty rotten alien invasion? In their second outing, our mismatched duo will be ...

Today's political pundits express shock and disappointment when candidates resort to negative campaigning. But history reveals that smear campaigns are as American as apple pie. Anything for a Vote is a look at 200-plus years of dirty tricks and bad behavior in presidential elections, from George Washington to Barack Obama and John McCain. Let the name-calling begin!

Bestselling children's author Andy Stanton has made a career out of writing differently—from the unconventional ‘hero' of his bestselling Mr Gum series to his penchant for absurdist plots, his children's books are anything but formulaic. When a friend introduces him to ChatGPT, the new large language chatbot, Andy is as sceptical as he is curious. Can this jumble of algorithms really mimic the spontaneity of human thought? Could it one day replace human authors like him for good? And are we soon to be ruled over by despotic robot overlords.

There is a great war coming. Since before recorded history, Humanity has battled a terrible foe. Long ago we won a battle, but the war continues. The Duck has been waiting, watching and preparing to once again rise and crush humanity. This time they will have allies, new weapons, and thousands of years of bottled up rage... Those enlightened few of us who are capable of seeing this threat in time must learn, study and arm ourselves against the coming storm. It's to educate yourself and prepare for what may be our species' most perilous days. Skeptical? This book contains the FACTS that will...

It would be easier for Thomas Mullen to move on from what he'd seen if Sarah stopped calling. It would be even better if she stopped appearing to him, and only him, to remind him of what he was powerless to stop. But months later, after Thomas loses his phone and the random woman who recovers it arranges to return it to him, his predicament intensifies. This woman tells him that while she's had his phone, his mother has called. His mother really needs him to call her back. And who is Sarah?

· Deepen your understanding of modern life: Explore how genes, environment, and free speech shape our world in thought-provoking essays.· Uncover the power of humour and wit: Discover how humour serves as a tool for expressing complex ideas.· Challenge your perspectives: Examine the subjectivity of vision, the scholar's world, and the artist's craft.· Grapple with contemporary issues: Delve into conspiracy theories, literary analysis, and the value of democracy in the modern age.· Confront your fears and societal assumptions: Explore humanity's anxieties, societal arrogance, and the ...

The War for Truth Escalates—And One Woman Holds the Key to Humanity’s Survival. Public outrage will boil over when the truth about the deadly HealthSync neural implants surfaces. A covert resistance team knows their next move is critical: securing the help of five-star General Alexander Miley Austin. But convincing a high-ranking military leader to turn against the system he swore to protect is no small feat—especially when he’s wired into the very technology they’re fighting against. Enter Jane—a former escort turned elite operative—who’s willing to risk it all. When the ...

The rolling pin points to murder, and Olivia Marx is the only one who sees it. In the quaint town of Whispering Falls, it's a fine line between cookie dough and crime scenes. Olivia Marx, puzzle enthusiast and reluctant detective, finds her cozy life flipped upside down. When the town's beloved baker, Ben, is found dead, Olivia dives into a web of confectionery conspiracies. Too bad Detective Ethan Blackwell insists she leave it to the pros. Crumbs of evidence present more questions than answers. Every resident seems suspicious, including Olivia herself, and secrets are as common as ...

Of all human qualities, humor is perhaps the most puzzling. In this very first history of humor, author and humorist William Hartston looks at every aspect of the evolution of humor and our attitudes toward it with a view to developing a proper theory of everything humorous.