Richard Armour (1906–1989)

I have been going down my list of Armour books in reverse order, which is exactly the wrong way to engage with works of comedy. it is hard to rate them in the spirit of the first discovery. I cannot resummon the joy of this attack on the shibboleths of that very prosperous sport with the delight I may well have felt at the time. I still think this venture is worth the read especially in those tense moments when the reporter is whispering into his microphone so as not to disturb the current giant of the game as he carefully plans his chip shot.… (meer)

Hilarious collection of parodies of the literary canon. I first discovered this book on the paperback rack at the drug store where I worked at age 15. My copy went missing. I loaned it to a school chum. 33 years later, she returned the book by mail. Armour's humor made me read the originals to fully appreciate the humor. I eventually earned an English degree and worked in publishing.

See youtube for Richard Armour delivering a hilarious 1971 address at UCLA (audio only):

Richard Armour speaking at UCLA 1/8/1971… (meer)

I am now reading this for the nth time, having received it as a birthday present back in the 1960's. It made its way into the bibliography for my high school research paper on Shakespeare, which says something, either about the book or about my research methods. Absolutely hilarious, especially if you like puns. As noted, the humor is mid-twentieth century and may not fall well on twenty-first century ears. However, that can be said for a lot of humor from the past. All in all, a fun way to spend an afternoon. You may even learn something about the Bard of Avon.… (meer)