Benjamin Franklin's Humor [electronic resource] /
Zall, Paul M.
Lexington : University Press of Kentucky,
c2005.
Humor is sometimes a serious business, especially the humor of Benjamin Franklin, a master at revealing the human condition through comedy. For the country's bicentennial, Reader's Digest named Franklin ""Man of the Year"" for embodying the characteristics we admire most about ourselves as Americans -- humor, irony, energy, and fresh insight. Recreating Franklin's words in the way that his contemporaries would have read and understood them, Paul M. Zall chronicles Franklin's use (and abuse) of humor for commercial, diplomatic, and political purposes. Dedicated to the uniquely appealing and 
Description based upon print version of record.
Front cover; Copyright; Contents; Preface; Introduction; 1. Silence Dogood; 2. Paragraphis in Philadelphia; 3. Philadelphia's Poor Richard; 4. Philadelphia Comic Relief; 5. Making Friends Overseas; 6. Losing London; 7. Seducing Paris; 8. Comic Release; 9. Revising Past and Future; Notes; Sources; Index
Humor is sometimes a serious business, especially the humor of Benjamin Franklin, a master at revealing the human condition through comedy. For the country's bicentennial, Reader's Digest named Franklin ""Man of the Year"" for embodying the characteristics we admire most about ourselves as Americans -- humor, irony, energy, and fresh insight. Recreating Franklin's words in the way that his contemporaries would have read and understood them, Paul M. Zall chronicles Franklin's use (and abuse) of humor for commercial, diplomatic, and political purposes. Dedicated to the uniquely appealing and 
Includes bibliographical references (p. 169-179) and index.
Description based on print version record.
Franklin, Benjamin, 1706-1790.
Franklin, Benjamin, 1706-1790
Franklin, Benjamin, 1706-1790
Franklin, Benjamin, 1706-1790
Statesmen
American wit and humor.