The Jokers (New York Review Books Classics)
"Albert Cossery, who died in 2008 at age 94, ought to be a household name. He’s that good: an elegant stylist, an unrelenting ironist, his great subject the futility of ambition 'in a world where everything is false.' ...The Jokersis a small masterpiece…” –David Ulin,The Los Angeles Times"Cossery’s account of finding the space to protest and retain your sense of humor  is equal parts funny and vicious." --Jessa Crispin, NPR “Cossery  argues the futility of locking horns with your oppressor. . . . Far more effective—and  far more natural—to undermine it by mockery and ridicule, as happens in this book  to hilarious effect.”—The Independent “Cossery’s use of irony is one of the most  powerful and pity-inducing to be found in any literature East or West, old or new.  It is an irony so fierce, an anger so sharply muted by inversion of sarcasm and disgust  that it makes the reader’s hair stand on end with guilty compassion.”—John Murray “His caustic satire burned like the desert sun, undermining all forms of authority.”—The Guardian “A jewel of eccentric humor.”—Le Monde