study of national character

I found this dreadfully dull and lifeless. I see that others enjoyed it, I can't say the same for myself. One would think that a book about American humor, even the older "weird" humor that was applicable to everyday life then but oh, so not now, would be at least a bit whimsical. This takes itself painfully seriously. Not my thing. ( )

First off: the style of this book is so lovely that it is a pleasure to read, almost regardless of the actual content. Rourke writes in a delicate and oblique fashion worthy of a good novelist. This is, of course, an old book, and the depictions of American territorial expansion and of racist caricature will likely cause the contemporary reader to cringe now and then. The subject matter of the book is more aptly summed up in the subtitle than in the primary title: "humor," narrowly defined, is only one among many topics covered here. What is really at issue is the search for unique characteristics of American literature and how they derive from a national collective consciousness. One complaint is that the author seemed to feel obligated to cover every major American author active in the 19th century: she gives the impression of having something to say about James and Dickinson but to hammer out a few uninspired pages about Melville. As some of the other reviews mention, this book is better at conveying insightful, pithy quotes than factual information. It will not serve as a general primer on American literature or as a hard scholarly resource, but it is a highly worthwhile read on aesthetic grounds alone. ( )

Useful for including a number of otherwise obscure early humorists ( )