Al Gini

This is a gentle and sometimes thoughtful survey of historical and philosophical musings on why humour might be important in our lives. It is written in a straight ahead style, with many endnotes referencing other texts that have considered these questions, or memoirs by funny people. And it is sprinkled with numerous jokes, or, if you prefer, “jokes”. If you don’t go in expecting a comprehensive and persuasive argument, you won’t be disappointed. Just enjoy it for what it is. It’s quick and periodically funny, or, “funny”.

But there are probably more useful and much funnier books out there for you to read, so I won’t actually recommend this one.… (altro)

In The Importance of Being Funny, Al Gini talks about the importance of humor and why we might have developed it as a species, while also including some of his favorite jokes. I enjoyed the easy, down-to-earth nature of the writing style; while Gini talks about high concepts, it’s at a very easy, natural level. He basically covers what comedy is, the ethics of telling jokes (as we all know, some jokes can be racist, misogynist, etc.), and what happens to a person when they’re told a joke or are telling a joke.

This book meant to be a description of what’s funny or how to be funny, but instead is a philosophical work on why humor is important. Some of it is repetitive, but it’s a quick read and I enjoyed learning a little more about humor. I especially appreciated the included jokes that are used as examples to illustrate points. If you’re at all interested in the importance of humor in human nature, or learning a little more about how humor works and what purpose it serves, then I would definitely recommend this book. It’s approachable, contains good jokes, and has good information.

Also posted on Purple People Readers.… (altro)

First and foremost, this book is not a lazy read-it requires attention and commitment from the reader. It is informative and clearly well-researched. I find it amusing that a book on laziness requires so much of its readers.



Gini’s main thesis in this book is that Americans aren’t necessarily overworked, but we are defiantly under-rested. We work more hours a week than anyone (even the Japanese, he repeatedly points out), but take far less vacation, not even the vacation we’re due. And when we aren’t working, we certainly aren’t resting. He likens the need for leisure and relaxation with the concept of the Sabbath, a useful analogy he continues through the book. Leisure time should be unwired, reflective, even spiritual-a way to look at ourselves and grow as people, bettering ourselves and becoming more connected to our communities and families.



Gini considers many reasons for us not embracing leisure and play. Primarily, we work too much-our careers define us. And even if we don’t let our careers define us, we need more stuff (so does consumerism cause workaholism or is it the other way around?) Even during weekends and vacations, our time is packed with structured and prepackaged activities that claim to offer us whatever we feel is lacking in our lives for a few hundred bucks. And then it’s all supposed to come to a screeching halt at retirement. We would be better served, he suggests, to find ways to improve ourselves and become more comfortable with who we are inside than flitting away all our time and money on flashiness (except when he says it, it doesn’t sound nearly so shallow and new-agey).



Generally, if you have time and attention to read this book, you are not one of the ones who needs to read this book. Perhaps we are suppose to go out and proclaim the good news of laziness to others, or maybe we are suppose to pat ourselves on the back for not spending too much time at work and in front of the TV to enjoy other parts of life. Or maybe we should get our noses out of books for a little while and go play…

… (altro)