Scott Weems

Very enjoyable read, and (despite the title, which makes it clear) slightly more scientific than I was expecting. I quibble with some of the author's phrasing, I think, more than his conclusions/insights (an example: there's a picture of a cat beside a litter box, and his owner says "Never, ever, think outside the box." ... according to Weems, we're not supposed to laugh because a dumb owner is talking to a cat who can't understand, we're supposed to laugh because the man's warning the cat against being inappropriately creative. No, we're supposed to laugh because in this case "thinking outside of the box" literally means the cat would do its business in the wrong place. This happens a few times, and it's derailing).

(Note: 5 stars = amazing, wonderful, 4 = very good book, 3 = decent read, 2 = disappointing, 1 = awful, just awful. I'm fairly good at picking for myself so end up with a lot of 4s).… (mer)

Ever catch yourself laughing at something that shouldn't be funny while watching the Colbert Report and wondered why? Or laughed uncontrollably at a friends wildly inappropriate joke? This book explains all of this and more.

Overall this is a fun and informative read that can easily be read in an afternoon or evening. The author takes several contemporary examples of humor to which the reader can easily connect and uses them as case studies to explain why we find a variety of things funny.… (mer)