{"product_id":"playboys-and-killjoys-harry-levin-9780195048773","title":"Playboys and Killjoys: An Essay on the Theory and Practice of Comedy","description":"Harry Levin--one of America's major literary critics--offers a brilliant and original study of the whole world of comedy, concentrating on playwrights through the centuries, from Aristophanes and Plautus in classical times to Bernard Shaw and Bertolt Brecht and their recent successors.\u003cbr\u003e Viewing the comic repertory as a richly varied yet broadly unified whole, Levin provides a synthesis of theories and practice. Isolating two fundamental aspects of comedy--the ludicrous and irreverent \"playboy,\" whom we laugh with, and the ridiculous and forbidding \"killjoy,\" whom we laugh at--he traces the dialectical interplay of these components throughout history and across various cultures and media. While mainly focusing on the plays and the stage, with discussions of such major dramatists as Shakespeare, Ben Jonson, Molière, and William Congreve, Levin also includes essays on such related topics as humor, satire, and games.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eAuthor:\u003c\/b\u003e Harry Levin\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eISBN-10:\u003c\/b\u003e 0195048776\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eISBN-13:\u003c\/b\u003e 9780195048773\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003ePublisher:\u003c\/b\u003e Oxford University Press\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eLanguage:\u003c\/b\u003e English\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003ePublished:\u003c\/b\u003e 09\/08\/1988\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003ePages:\u003c\/b\u003e 224\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eFormat:\u003c\/b\u003e Paperback\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eWeight:\u003c\/b\u003e 0.43lbs\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eSize:\u003c\/b\u003e 8.03h x 5.35w x 0.51d","brand":"Harry Levin","offers":[{"title":"Paperback","offer_id":46232960663807,"sku":"9780195048773","price":32.99,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0662\/2982\/9887\/files\/img_dd78ca61-c325-4114-8ff8-049a1b27949f.jpg?v=1728991658","url":"https:\/\/www.whiterainbookhouse.com\/products\/playboys-and-killjoys-harry-levin-9780195048773","provider":"WR Book House","version":"1.0","type":"link"}