There are three important elements to note that this book covers. Besides Chicago history, celebrated authors from specific time periods are profiled, and samples of their work are included. Naturally, I did not find everything I read here to be funny, some not even amusing. Of course, I did not expect to, as different material will make different people laugh from different times, countries, even communities. A profusion of topics in comedy is perused here.
Writings cover genres such as ethnic humor, political humor, and defensive humor.
This book seeks to facilitate understanding of what was humorous to Chicago's citizens in different time periods. Integration of history and the book's subject matter was accomplished skillfully. When introducing new time periods, topics, and even authors, pertinent historical tidbits would be provided. Most of the humor in this section was either over my head, or just did not strike me as funny. There was a significant section on ethnic jokes.