The Pun Also Rises: How the Humble Pun Revolutionized Language, Changed History, and Made Wordplay More Than Some Antics Paperback – April 3, 2012

A wonderful adventure through language and history. Fascinating hypotheses involving the true nature of word play, humor and the essences of such endeavors involving the shaping of not only language but the characters and character of those characters who use language. Order that seems necessary in language gives way to a healthy respect for a controlled type of disorder that is necessary for language, knowledge, creativity and imagination to grow in human societies. Though Pollack intelligently recognizes and acknowledges that puns are not the only tools towards such ends, he makes a very convincing case that puns and the ability to pun are indeed authentic devices in regards to fostering better thinking and likewise human creativity and invention, so important for human growth and scientific advancement over time. What's more is that he does this all in a highly readable and entertaining fashion. Unlike a typical scientific treatise, as this most certainly is, the bonus is that the subject matter are puns. So, interspersed with important and serious arguments are the subject of those arguments themselves that kept me smiling, sometimes laughing out loud.I flew through this book that at times made me think deeply and at others, once again, made me laugh out loud. I highly recommend it to anyone who speaks. All the best, Al Lemerande Jr. M.D.

John Pollack has dug deeply into the history of communication and civilization to vindicate the much-maligned pun. By extension, he has helped those of us afflicted with the mutant punning gene to regain a modicum of self respect. The subtitle of this little gem says it all: "How the Humble Pun Revolutionized Language, Changed History, and Made Wordplay More than Some Antics."The author brings us all the way back to Chinese punsters offering double meanings in Mandarin ideograms, as well as unearthing hieroglyphic and cuneiform puns. The author, a former World Pun Champion, has researched thoroughly the rise and fall of the pun as an accepted - and often celebrated - literary form. He even invokes cognitive science to explore the complex and sophisticated neural processes at work when one person coins a pun and another person struggles to understand its multiple layers of meaning. He even offers a deconstruction of the normal reaction to a pun: the groan.In discussing the derision that puns often elicit today, he offers this perspective:"To many people, such antipathy is no surprise. Because just as most of us know a few people who cannot resist making puns, we also know others who can't stand them no matter what. Historically speaking,however, such antipathy and its cloak of intellectual respectability constitute a relatively new development in Western civilization. In fact, for thousands of years, the pun actually enjoyed a privileged status in Western philosophy, art and religion - a status that far transcended that which it often suffers today." (Page 57)"But simply disliking puns is insufficient to make them disappear. Even Joseph Addison, who some three centuries ago managed to tarnish the pun's reputation so badly, once conceded that 'the seeds of Punning are in the minds of all men, and tho' they may be subdued by Reason, Reflection, and good Sense, they will be very apt to shoot up in the greatest Genius, that is not broken and cultivated by the rules of Art.'" (Page 145)Pollack cites Google as a current example of regular employment of puns:"The top of Google's search page provides a steady parade of visual puns, too. Colloquially known as Google Doodles, these visual puns tweak the familiar Google logo to play off current events, historic anniversaries and popular holidays, swapping out the Os for visually similar symbols such as Olympic rings, Christmas wreaths o even half-even pierogies.Google's name itself is a play on the word 'googol,' which denotes the number 10 [to the 100th power]." (pages 147-8This worthy volume is pun-blished by Gotham Books. Buy it and enjoy!

A little humorA little historyA little etymology Just one point . I've been watching the History channel Ancient Aliens program and I have come to the conclusion that humans did not have a sense of humor or an imagination until sometime in the 1600s. I'm still working on the exact date though.So any puns prior to the 1600s was the result of alien interaction with humans. This continues to be the reason so many humans don't find puns funny. And that's why aliens have turned to crop circles and probing humans.

I've always loved puns and appreciate the chance to learn more about how they came about, developed and have been treated over their long history. The book is well-researched and contains puns in just about every paragraph. I've recommended this book to many friends, most of whom groan at my constant puns (and now I understand why that's the usual reaction!)Most importantly, this book has reinforced my mission to pun as often as I can - and so should you!

I read John Pollack's book about his part in the design and assembly of a cork boat in America, and the unexpected transport of the boat to Portugal where he, his family, and friends sailed it down a partially tamed river. That captivating story was largely about the people involved and their relationships, travails, and courage. I didn't know what to expect from him in a book about puns. Pages and pages of funny stuff? No, this is not a book of puns, it is about puns. The introduction to the book was about his personal experience in managing to gain entry into a punning contest and unexpectedly winning it. I like puns, but before I read the book I classified puns into two categories:true works of art and boring nonsense. In the introduction I learned a little about what would be allowed in a punning contest and now I feel a little more tolerant towards all types of puns. The book delves into the history, psychology,and science of punning. There are puns throughout, but they're part of the writing and not blatant attempts at punnery. You have to pay attention to find them all. The book could have fallen into the genre of "the paper clip and how it saved the world" but it is an enjoyable speculation of how the pun may be part of what makes us human, how it may have helped to shape our language, and what the latest science of the brain has to say about this. I preordered the book and when it shipped, I got an email that said that in keeping with Amazon's price protection policy, I was getting a 14 cent reduction in the price. So not only did I get a very enjopyable book about puns, but it made cents too!

Excellent book for those who value the scope of the English language

Punderful

Book quality wasn’t as expected.

Very entertaining.good book.