{"product_id":"american-cornball-a-laffopedic-guide-to-the-formerly-funny","title":"American Cornball: A Laffopedic Guide to the Formerly Funny","description":"\u003cbody\u003e\n\u003cb\u003eTitle: \u003c\/b\u003eAmerican Cornball: A Laffopedic Guide to the Formerly Funny\n\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eAuthor: \u003c\/b\u003eChristopher Miller\n\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eISBN: \u003c\/b\u003e9780062225177\n\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003ePublisher: \u003c\/b\u003eHarper\n\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003ePublished: \u003c\/b\u003e2014\n\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eBinding: \u003c\/b\u003eHardcover\n\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eLanguage: \u003c\/b\u003eEnglish\n\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eNumber of Pages: \u003c\/b\u003e544\n\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eCondition Note: \u003c\/b\u003eExcellent, unmarked copy with little wear and tight binding. We ship in recyclable American-made mailers. 100% money-back guarantee on all orders.\n\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003ePublisher Description: \u003c\/b\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003e\u003cem\u003eAmerican Cornball\u003c\/em\u003e is Christopher Miller's irresistibly funny illustrated survey of popular humor--the topics that used to make us laugh, from hiccups and henpecked-husbands to outhouses and old maids--and what it tells us about our country yesterday and today.\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eWhy has our sense of humor changed over the years? Why did our grandparents think things like safes falling out of high windows or angry housewives waiting with rolling pins for their drunken husbands to come home were so funny? While we snicker at pop culture references, Americans in time past gravitated towards slapstick and jokes that...don't seem so funny in retrospect.\u003c\/p\u003e \u003cp\u003eMiller revisits nearly 200 comic staples that have been passed down through our culture for generations, many originating from the vaudeville age. He explores the (often unseemly) contexts from which they arose, why they were funny in their time, and why they eventually lost their appeal. The result is a kind of taxonomy of humor during America's golden age that provides a deeper, more profound look at the prejudices, preoccupations, and peculiarities of a nation polarized between urban and rural, black and white, highborn and lowbrow.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eAs he touches on issues of racism and sexism, cultural stereotypes and violence, Miller reveals how dramatically our moral sensibilities have shifted, most notably in the last few decades. Complete with more than 100 period illustrations, \u003cem\u003eAmerican Cornball\u003c\/em\u003e is a richly entertaining survey of our shifting comic universe.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003c\/body\u003e","brand":"Harper","offers":[{"title":"American Cornball: A Laffopedic Guide to the Formerly Funny | Christopher Miller | Hardcover | 9780062225177 | Used: Like New | Back Stacks G 1747554","offer_id":48842997956760,"sku":"1747554","price":12.95,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0492\/1609\/4360\/files\/51apT9h0tJL.jpg?v=1775246800","url":"https:\/\/roundaboutbookstore.com\/products\/american-cornball-a-laffopedic-guide-to-the-formerly-funny","provider":"Roundabout Books","version":"1.0","type":"link"}