Humor in Twentieth-century British Literature

British writers of the 20th century have used humor in various ways in their works. This book surveys humor in British literature from Sir Arthur Wing Pinero (1855-1934) through Douglas (Noel) Adams (1952-). The volume is divided into ten chapters, with the first chapter covering authors born between 1855 and 1869, and with later chapters each covering authors born during a particular decade. Each chapter discusses the humor, satire, parody, irony, comedy, and wit of individual authors and gives extensive bibliographical information about other critics who have done the same. The book is arranged chronologically according to the birth year of the author being discussed. Through this chronological arrangement, the reader may trace the evolution of British literary humor over time. An index allows the reader to locate individual authors alphabetically.