If wit is, as Mark Twain said, the poor cousin of humor, then that cousin is now in debtors' prison. Michelson not only offers many examples of wit created by the masters of the trade, but also a good deal of biographical detail. They are different animals, he said. Humor foreshadows itself, telegraphs its punches.
Literary wit is trickier.
It often pretends to be transient, an amusement for the moment, but behind it you sense measure and care. Wit can be empty or pretentious, but it also can be thematically rich. While it can be described, literary wit cannot be defined, Michelson said. That's what wit in literature can do. It can give us moments of recognition just like that.