Laughing at the Darkness Postmodernism and Optimism in American Humour Paul McDonald Paul McDonald Contemporary American Literature General Editors : Christopher Gair & Aliki Varvogli Using this Ebookt *This book is designed to be read in single page view, using the ‘fit page’ command. *To navigate through the contents use the hyperlinked ‘Bookmarks’ at the left of the screen. *To search, click the search symbol. *For ease of reading, use to enlarge the page to full screen, and return to normal view using . *Hyperlinks (if any) appear in Blue Underlined Text. Permissions Your purchase of this ebook licenses you to read this work on-screen. You may print a copy of the book for your own use but copy and paste functions are disabled. No part of this publication may be otherwise reproduced or transmitted or distributed without the prior written permission of both the copyright owner and the publisher. This work is copyright. Making or distributing copies of this book would constitute copyright infringement and would be liable to prosecution. Thank you for respecting the rights of the author. Laughing at the Darkness: Postmodernism and Optimism in AmericanHumour Paul McDonald HEBƁHumanities-Ebooks, LLP © Paul McDonald, 2010 he Author has asserted his right to be identified as the author of this Work in accordance with the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988.