Get Free Shipping on orders over $79
The Pun Also Rises : How the Humble Pun Revolutionized Language, Changed History, and Made Wordplay More Than Some Antics - John Pollack
eTextbook alternate format product

Instant online reading.
Don't wait for delivery!

Go digital and save!

The Pun Also Rises

How the Humble Pun Revolutionized Language, Changed History, and Made Wordplay More Than Some Antics

By: John Pollack

Paperback | 3 April 2012 | Edition Number 1

At a Glance

Paperback


RRP $35.00

$32.75

or 4 interest-free payments of $8.19 with

 or 

Ships in 25 to 30 business days

A funny, erudite, and provocative exploration of puns, the people who make them, and this derided wordplay's remarkable impact on human history.

In The Pun Also Rises, John Pollack-a former World Pun Champion and presidential speechwriter for Bill Clinton-explains why puns matter: They revolutionized language and played a pivotal role in making the modern world possible. Skillfully weaving together stories and evidence from history, brain science, pop culture, literature, anthropology, and humor, The Pun Also Rises is an authoritative yet playful exploration of puns.

With an engaging narrative, this book answers fundamental questions: Just what are puns? Why do people make them? How did punning impact the development of human language, and how did that drive creativity and progress? And why, after centuries of decline, does the pun still matter?

At once entertaining and educational, this engaging book builds a compelling case for the powerful and enduring role of puns in human discourse and innovation, and why they'll always be more than just some antics.

Industry Reviews
"A compelling exegesis on what puns are and why they matter." -- The Los Angeles Times

"A fun, cogent argument in favor of a dubious, often-damned art." -- Kirkus Reviews

"He tells us, with a clarity unusual for the subject, how the mind works..." -- P.J. O'Rourke, The New York Times Book Review

"The best books on language are the ones that encourage us to reexamine what we think we know, and "The Pun Also Rises" does exactly that." -- Boston Globe

"Whether you are practicing punster, interested in language or just hungry to learn something on the beach this summer as you lie on the sand-which-is there (see what happens when you talk to this guy?), Pollack's book is fun and informative." -- Detroit Free Press

More in Language History & General Works

Introducing English Grammar : 4th Edition - Kersti Börjars
The Private Lives of English Words : Routledge Revivals - Louis Heller
Introducing English Grammar - Kersti Börjars
Mother Tongue : The Story of the English Language - Bill Bryson

RRP $26.99

$22.99

15%
OFF
Terraglossia - Debra Dank

Hardcover

RRP $29.99

$19.75

34%
OFF
Bina : First Nations Languages, Old and New - Gari Tudor-Smith

RRP $37.99

$30.75

19%
OFF
Chopping Onions on My Heart : on losing and preserving culture - Samantha Ellis
Mother Tongue : Popular Penguins : Popular Penguins - Bill Bryson
Australia in 100 Words - Amanda Laugesen

RRP $32.99

$28.75

13%
OFF
The Cain's Jawbone Book of Crosswords - Edward Powys Mathers

RRP $24.99

$21.75

13%
OFF
An Introduction to Sociolinguistics : 6th Edition - Janet Holmes

RRP $79.99

$70.75

12%
OFF
A Little Book of Latin for Gardeners - Peter Parker

RRP $24.99

$23.75

Macquarie Dictionary : 8th Edition - Macquarie Dictionary

RRP $120.00

$75.75

37%
OFF
Inventing the Renaissance : Myths of a Golden Age - Ada Palmer

RRP $62.99

$45.75

27%
OFF