THE PUN ALSO RISES How the Humble Pun Revolutionized Language, Changed History, and Made Wordplay More Than Some Antics

John Pollack, a World Pun Championship winner and former speechwriter for President Clinton, plays with words in a most delightful and ingenious way. This is a real treat in audio since narrator Pete Larkin seems to be having as much fun recounting Pollack’s abundance of groan-producing puns, newspaper headlines, and other clever language-based witticisms as listeners will. Pollack first defines puns and then relates their origins and their significance to the evolution of language. He categorizes puns, analyzes “knock-knock” jokes and riddles, and tells a few outrageous “shaggy dog” stories, all the while quoting from master punsters. From anatomy to neurology, from literature to law, it seems puns know no discipline, and Larkin makes the listening punderful. (Sorry. This book will have you doing it, too.) S.J.H. © AudioFile 2011, Portland, Maine [Published: SEPTEMBER 2011]