Brought together here in this volume is a classic collection of satirical works from Jonathan Swift, perhaps one of the greatest satirist in the English language. While Swift is probably best known for his novel "Gulliver's Travels", he was a brilliant satirist with a cutting wit and mastery of language. His skills with the pen, which made him both famous and feared by the powerful, can be seen in "A Modest Proposal". Swift's famous essay, originally...

Fans of The Daily Show and will appreciate this timely collection of satirical essays by counterculture icon Paul Krassner. With irreverence and an often X-rated wit, Krassner writes with a unique perspective on comedy and obscenity in politics and culture, from "Bong Hits 4 Jesus" banners to scenes cut out of recent movies, including Borat and Milk. In his essay "Don Imus Meets Michael Richards," Krassner examines racism in comdey, from Lenny Bruce...

Things Are Against Us is a collection of satirical essays. They treat subjects such as the obstinancy, incorrigibility, and recalcitrance of THINGS, which have a lot to answer for; Laura Ingalls Wilder's unimpressive descriptions of the construction of bobsleds, railways, and complicated dresses, and the astonishing amount of food Almanzo Wilder ate in a day; our efforts to stand on our own two feet, put our best foot forward, remain footloose and...

Excerpt: "Considering our present advanced state of culture, and how the Torch of Science has now been brandished and borne about, with more, or less effect, for five thousand years and upwards; how, in these times especially, not only the Torch still burns, and perhaps more fiercely than ever, but innumerable Rushlights, and Sulphur-matches, kindled thereat, are also glancing in every direction, so that not the smallest cranny or dog-hole in Nature...

Excerpt: "I do not know whether this will awaken a sympathetic lassitude in, say, fifty per cent. of its readers, or whether my experience is unique and my testimony simply curious. At any rate, it is as true as I can make it. Whether this is a mere mood, and a certain flagrant exhilaration my true attitude towards things, or this is my true attitude and the exuberant phase a lapse from it, I cannot say. Probably it does not matter. The thing is that...

Contained within this volume is a collection of writings by George Boon, painstakingly selected and edited by H. G. Wells for inclusion in The Times newspaper. Chapters include: 'The Back Of Miss Bathwick And George Boon', 'Being The First Chapter Of 'The Mind Of The Race'', 'The Great Slump, The Revival Of Letters, And The Garden By The Sea', 'Of Art, Of Literature, Of Mr Henry James', 'Of The Assembling And Opening Of The World Conference On The...

Richard Whately (1787-1863) was an English rhetorician, academic, logician, philosopher, theologian, and economist. Written when he lived in Oxford, his tract "Historic Doubts Relative to Napoleon Buonaparte" is a witty jeu d'ésprit aimed at excessive scepticism of Gospel history. First published in 1819, this book is highly recommended for those with an interest in Napoleon Buonaparte and European history in general. Contents include: "The Death...

"Greg Gutfeld is back with a hilarious essay collection about how he destroyed the mainstream late night landscape of heavyweights and became host of the #1 late night show in all of television. With his signature wit and whip-smart humor, Greg reveals never-before-told stories of his upbringing and early career, what it's like going head-to-head with the liberal media, and what it took to flip the script on the comedy landscape. How did the former...

Extrait : "Pour tous rimeurs, habitants du Parnasse, De par Phébus il est plus d'une place : Les rangs n'y sont confondus comme ici, Et c'est raison. Ferait beau voir aussi, Le fade auteur d'un roman ridicule, Sur même lit couché près de Catulle ; Ou bien Lamotte ayant l'honneur du pas, Sur le harpeur ami de Mécénas : Trop bien Phébus sait de sa république, Régler les rangs et l'ordre hiérarchique ; Et, dispensant honneur et dignité, Donne...

Excerpt: ""Moral Statistician."-I don't want any of your statistics; I took your whole batch and lit my pipe with it. I hate your kind of people. You are always ciphering out how much a man's health is injured, and how much his intellect is impaired, and how many pitiful dollars and cents he wastes in the course of ninety-two years' indulgence in the fatal practice of smoking; and in the equally fatal practice of drinking coffee; and in playing billiards...