Stop Me If You've Heard This: A History and Philosophy of Jokes

It's appropriate that a book about jokes be funny, and Jim Holt rises to the occasion. He traces the history of modern jokes from the stand-up comedians of ancient Greece to today's sitcoms and comedy clubs, then gets into the philosophy of why jokes are funny, citing all the classic philosophers and using many different sorts of jokes as examples, from the in-jokes of religious schools to jokes about doctors, lawyers, Wall Street, eating disorders, politicians, and atheists. 

(This book may contain a small, black sharpie mark on the bottom edge, so that it can't be returned to a different wholesaler.)