Spoken Here


Book Description

In Spoken Here, journalist Mark Abley takes us on a world tour -- from the Arctic Circle to the outback of Australia -- to track obscure languages and reveal their beauty and the devotion of those who work to save them. --from publisher description.




Puns Spooken Here


Book Description

Q. What's a skeleton's favorite food? A. Spare ribs. Q. What was the witch's favorite subject in school? A. Spelling. Q. What kind of horse does a ghost ride? A. A night mare. Q. How does an exorcist keep in shape? A. He rides an exorcycle.




Wrestling Spoken Here


Book Description

Wrestling Spoken Here follows the main character Robbie and his friend Matt through Robbie's first season as a high school athlete. Readers will enjoy the combination of humor and drama which develops in the story. High School sophomore Robbie Renfro is not the most confident young man in the world. He has grown up in a working class neighborhood, has a disgruntled father that drinks too much, and a problem with the neighborhood bully looming on the horizon. Robbie is by no means a natural, but his efforts lead to a growing confidence both on and off the mat. He must deal with competition, with issues at home, and with local bully Jake the "Snake." Racial tension interjects itself as Jake picks a fight with one of Robbie's black teammates, a situation that places Robbie in the middle of troubling issues. "I read it from cover to cover in one sitting." Former N.C. State head coach Jerry Daniels "It took me back to high school." Dr. Jim Decker, East Carolina University




Pretty Good Joke Book


Book Description

Over 2,200 Jokes from America’s favorite live radio show A treasury of hilarity from Garrison Keillor and the cast of public radio’s A Prairie Home Companion. A guy walks into a bar. Eight Canada Geese walk into a bar. A termite jumps up on the bar and asks, “Where is the bar tender?” Drum roll. The Sixth Edition of the perennially popular Pretty Good Joke Book is everything the first five were and more. More puns, one-liners, light bulb jokes, knock-knock jokes, and third-grader jokes (have you heard the one about Elvis Parsley?). More religion jokes, political jokes, lawyer jokes, blonde jokes, and jokes in questionable taste (Why did the urologist lose his license? He got in trouble with his peers). More jokes about chickens, relationships, and senior moments (the nice thing about Alzheimer’s is you can enjoy the same jokes again and again). It all started back in 1996, when A Prairie Home Companion fans laughed themselves silly during the first Joke Show. The broadcast was such a hit that it became an almost-annual gagfest. Then fans wanted to read the jokes, share them, and pass them around, and the first Pretty Good Joke Book was born. With over 200 new and updated jokes, the latest edition promises countless giggles, chortles, and guffaws anyone—fans of the radio show or not—will enjoy.




Once Apun A Time


Book Description

Many puns are fleeting and transitory, devised and stated in a flash for a situation or immediate condition (see Word Plays, Puns Intended on the Internet). These kinds of puns can rarely be retold effectively, as the event that triggered them in the first place does not reappear exactly as before. But some puns are enduring! These can be memorized and told over and over in different social contexts and events, each time with the same overall effects - enjoyed by the teller, and enjoyed by the appreciative audience, albeit with some groaning. Some of the enduring puns are tongue twisters, so tellers are advised to practice telling them in private so as not to miss any key words that might lessen the effects of the punch lines. Other puns are timing precise, so a miscue, or mistiming destroys the intended effect....




The Pun Also Rises


Book Description

At once entertaining and educational, this engaging book is a funny, erudite, and provocative exploration of puns, the people who make them, and this derided wordplay's remarkable impact on human history.




Multicultural Spoken Here


Book Description




Doing Shakespeare


Book Description

Doing Shakespeare offers a fresh insight into the difficulties and excesses of Shakespeare's drama and language. Written primarily for students making the transition from school to university, it aims both to demystify and illuminate the study of Shakespeare, tackling many of the challenges students face as they move towards a more complex critical engagement with Shakespeare's work. Equally, it shows how recovering the layered energies within and between Shakespeare's words, and the role of such dense language in constructing character, is indispensable if we are to rediscover the plays' ethical, political and emotional punch. "Simon Palfrey's Doing Shakespeare is far more than a primer. Readers and watchers of Shakespeare, however experienced, will find a host of new insights here. Indeed, I cannot think of another critic since Empson who has teased out so much so lucidly and (usually) so persuasively from the intricacies of Shakespearean language. Sometimes wayward, frequently vertiginous, always provocative of serious thought" Jonathan Bate, International Books of the Year 2004, The Times Literary Supplement, October 2004. Doing Shakespeare offers a fresh insight into the difficulties and excesses of Shakespeare's drama and language. Written primarily for students making the transition from school to university, it aims both to demystify and illuminate the study of Shakespeare, tackling many of the challenges students face as they move towards a more complex critical engagement with Shakespeare's work. Equally, it shows how recovering the layered energies within and between Shakespeare's words, and the role of such dense language in constructing character, is indispensable if we are to rediscover the plays' ethical, political and emotional punch. "Simon Palfrey's Doing Shakespeare is far more than a primer. Readers and watchers of Shakespeare, however experienced, will find a host of new insights here. Indeed, I cannot think of another critic since Empson who has teased out so much so lucidly and (usually) so persuasively from the intricacies of Shakespearean language. Sometimes wayward, frequently vertiginous, always provocative of serious thought" Jonathan Bate, International Books of the Year 2004, The Times Literary Supplement, October 2004.




How to Tell a Joke


Book Description

Timeless advice about how to use humor to win over any audience Can jokes win a hostile room, a hopeless argument, or even an election? You bet they can, according to Cicero, and he knew what he was talking about. One of Rome’s greatest politicians, speakers, and lawyers, Cicero was also reputedly one of antiquity’s funniest people. After he was elected commander-in-chief and head of state, his enemies even started calling him “the stand-up Consul.” How to Tell a Joke provides a lively new translation of Cicero’s essential writing on humor alongside that of the later Roman orator and educator Quintilian. The result is a timeless practical guide to how a well-timed joke can win over any audience. As powerful as jokes can be, they are also hugely risky. The line between a witty joke and an offensive one isn’t always clear. Cross it and you’ll look like a clown, or worse. Here, Cicero and Quintilian explore every aspect of telling jokes—while avoiding costly mistakes. Presenting the sections on humor in Cicero’s On the Ideal Orator and Quintilian’s The Education of the Orator, complete with an enlightening introduction and the original Latin on facing pages, How to Tell a Joke examines the risks and rewards of humor and analyzes basic types that readers can use to write their own jokes. Filled with insight, wit, and examples, including more than a few lawyer jokes, How to Tell a Joke will appeal to anyone interested in humor or the art of public speaking.




A Holmes by Any Other Name


Book Description

Sherlock Holmes is one of the most recognizable—and most parodied—names in western literature. Bill Mason, BSI, collects and annotates these parody names, from the first one that appeared in 1891, to the present day. As Mason says in his introduction: One of the great aspects of Sherlock Holmes is the fact that, just as the character himself is subject to endless variation, so is his name. Ellery Queen noted that the name itself “is particularly susceptible to the twistings and mis-shapenings of burlesque minded authors.” Surely, Arthur Conan Doyle, who struggled a little with what he was going to call his detective hero, could not have known just how perfect the name he finally selected—Sherlock Holmes—would be for parody, for rhyme, for the transposing of letters and sounds, for the substitution of suggestive words in the name of a comic character. Mason’s listings are an invaluable resource for the Holmsian scholar, researcher, or for those interested in whiling away a few hours with a delightful and chuckle-inspiring volume.