Humour & Satire

The dog, Montmorency, is entirely fictional but, "as Jerome admits, developed out of that area of inner consciousness which, in all Englishmen, contains an element of the dog." The trip is a typical boating holiday of the time in a Thames camping skiff. This was just after commercial boat traffic on the Upper Thames had died out, replaced by the 1880s craze for boating as a leisure activity. - Summary by Wikipedia

It was first performed for the public on February 14, 1895 at the St. James’ Theatre in London, and is regarded by many critics and scholars as being the wittiest play in the English language. (Summary from Wikipedia.org)

Characters: John Worthing, J.P. - Read by John Gonzalez Algernon Moncrieff - Read by Gord Mackenzie Rev. Canon Chasuble, D.D. - Read by Chris Goringe Merriman, Butler - Read by Peter Yearsley Lane, Manservant - Read by Hugh McGuire Lady Bracknell - Read by Kristen McQuillin Hon. Gwendolen Fairfax - Read by Deana Cecily Cardew - Read by Kara Shallenberg Miss Prism, Governess - Read by Sureka Narrator - Read by Betsie Bush Project Editor - Paula Berinstein

“Gentlemen Prefer Blondes” was an instant bestseller and has been declared as “the great American novel” by Edith Wharton. - Summary by Jenn Broda

In the teacher's room, he soon finds himself in the middle of an intrigue between the jovial "Porcupine" and the fat "Hubbard Squash" on one side, and the effeminate "Red Shirt" and his follower "Clown" on the other. Will Botchan choose the right side in the end?

Botchan - with morality as the main theme - is one of the most popular novels in Japan. Sōseki Natsume bases the story on his own experiences as teacher in Matsuyama, his first assignment away from Tokyo. (Summary by Availle)

Set in about 1891 in Holloway, which was then a typical suburb of the impecuniously respectable kind, the authors contrive a record of the manners, customs and experiences of the late Victorian era. The bare record of facts, simply recorded, manages to be humorous rather than dull, no doubt because of the usual occupations of the authors.

George Grossmith (1847-1912) was an actor and comedian.

Weedon Grossmith (1852-1919) was an entertainer and illustrated the original work.

(Summary by Martin Clifton)

First published in 1930, this charming, funny book is a warm portrait of a middle-class English family and their village life. Our heroine recounts the mundane delights and disasters of her household, dealing with constant money worries, the challenges of finding & keeping a really good parlourmaid, and how best to retain grace towards her fellow humans in the face of their astonishing range of foibles. It’s also a wonderfully genuine description of a marriage, with all the little ups and downs of rubbing along with the same person for so many years. This recording was originally published on Legamus.eu and was later released on Librivox when US copyright permitted. - Summary by Cori Samuel

Ring Lardner was a Chicago sportswriter who covered the White Sox, and he brought an insider's knowledge of clubhouse life together with his biting wit and gift for the vernacular to create a comic gem in You Know Me Al. The six Jack Keefe stories that compose this volume were originally written as individual magazine articles, but the epistolary format made it easy to collect them into a single running narrative covering Jack's first two years in the Big Leagues.

It isn't necessary to know baseball history to enjoy the book, which is as much about Jack's troubles with girlfriends, wives and babies as it is about the Chicago White Sox. For the baseball fan, however, this glimpse into a bygone era adds an extra layer of fascination. In any case, Lardner's portrait of the professional ballplayer as a dumb, drunken narcissist is as funny today as the day it was written. (Summary by Rick Rodstrom)

Dedicated prooflisteners: Rob Kunkel & Juli Carter

This is a short collection of humorously critical descriptions of various men on the periphery of her “inner circle,” which explain why they are men she is not married to. - Summary by Kirsten Wever

Meanwhile Khlestakov, a common copying clerk from St. Petersburg who has lost all his money at cards, is attempting to bluff and bully the landlord of the Inn he is staying at into giving him one more free meal. He is scared and confused when the Governor comes to confront him, but his tendency to tell fantastic lies and brag about his imaginary illustrious friends turns the situation to his advantage.

This blistering satire by Gogol looks at the way greed and corruption make fools of ordinary men, and ordinary fools into even greater fools. Both funny and adroit, this is a sadly accurate portrayal of small-town (and large-city) politics the world over.

Lamentably this play contains some instances of anti-Semitism. (Summary by Lucy Perry)

Cast list:

Stage Directions: Lucy Perry

Anton Antonovich Skvoznik-Dmukhanovsky, the Governor: ToddHW

Anna Andreyevna, his wife: Maria Kasper

Marya Antonovna, his daughter: Tara Flynn

Luka Lukich Khlopov, the Inspector of Schools: Nick Bulka

His Wife: ImkeStevens

Ammos Fiodorovich Liapkin-Tiapkin, the Judge: EccentricOwl

Artemy Filippovich Zemlianika, the Superintendent of Charities: P. J. Morgan

Ivan Kuzmich Shpekin, the Postmaster: Ray Kasper

Piotr Ivanovich Dobchinsky, Country Squire: Simon Smoke

Piotr Ivanovich Bobchinsky, Country Squire: Peter Tucker

Ivan Aleksandrovich Khlestakov, an official from St. Petersburg: Seamus Dobbin

Osip, his servant: Algy Pug

Fiodr Andreyevich Liuliukov, ex-official, esteemed personage of the town: Betsy Cooley

Ivan Lazarevich Rastakovsky, ex-official, esteemed personage of the town: Wojtek Murawski

Stepan Ivanovich Korobkin, ex-official, esteemed personage of the town: BeniaminoMassimo

His Wife: Availle

Stepan Ilyich Ukhovertov, the Police Captain: David Olson

Svistunov, a Police Sergeant: Rosslyn Carlyle

Derzhimorda, a Police Sergeant: Vanessa Cooley

Abdulin, a merchant: bala

Feveronya Petrovna Poshliopkina, the Locksmith's wife: Maryanka

Mishka, the Governor's Servant: Etel Buss

The Widow of a non-commissioned Officer: Anna Simon

Servant at the Inn: Elizabeth Klett

A Second Merchant: Mary Kay

A Postilion: Availle

A Gendarme: Elizabeth Klett

Edited by: Lucy Perry

She also becomes friends with Eleanor Tilney, Henry's younger sister. Henry captivates her with his view on novels and his knowledge of history and the world. General Tilney (Henry and Eleanor's father) invites Catherine to visit their estate, Northanger Abbey, which, because she has been reading Ann Radcliffe's gothic novel The Mysteries of Udolpho, Catherine expects to be dark, ancient and full of fantastical mystery. (Summary by Wikipedia)

However, a stranger passing through the community was seriously offended by the actions of residents of this Utopia, and he vowed to gain revenge. After several years he came up with the perfect plan to embarrass the town and expose its hypocrisy. (Introduction by Leonard Wilson)

But then, how liberating — for much of the fun of reading or listening to Don Quixote lies in discovering just how near we are in spirit to the audience who first enjoyed this novel in the early years of the seventeenth century.

The novel's plot centres on a minor nobleman who, having read as literally true a great many books on knight-errantry, decides that he, too, must become a knight-errant seeking adventures, and who recruits as his squire a local labourer called Sancho Panza. The two set off, and many an "adventure" do they share indeed — though how many of these "adventures" amount to exercises in true knight-errantry, the reader will have to decide.

The two volumes of this novel were originally published in 1605 and 1615. The translation is by John Ormsby. - Summary by Peter Dann