George Mike. English Humour for Beginners

Penguin Books, 2016. — 122 p. — ISBN10: 0241978548, 13 978-0241978542.'If you want to succeed here you must be able to handle the English sense of humour.' So proclaims George Mikes' timeless exploration of this curious phenomenon. Whether it's understatement, self-deprecation or plain cruelty - the three elements he identifies as essential to our sense of humour - being witty is a way of life here. Perfectly placed as an adopted Englishman himself, Mikes delivers his shrewd advice - helpfully divided into 'Theory' and 'Practice' - with a comic precision. Drawing on a trove of examples from our rich canon, from Orwell (who said, 'Every joke is a tiny revolution') to Oscar Wilde, thisis the essential handbook for natives and foreigners alike. Mrs Kennedy- 'I don't think, Mr Churchill, that I have told you anything about my grandchildren.' Winston Churchill- 'For which, madam, I am infinitely grateful.'