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Saturday, September 4, 2021

Subtle Humor Imbedded in Literature

Writing funny pieces is a legitimate form of activity, but the durable humor in literature, I suspect, is not the contrived humor of a comedian commenting on the news but the sly and almost imperceptible ingredient that sometimes gets into writing. I think of Jane Austen, a deeply humorous woman. I think of Thoreau, a man of some humor along with his bile.

E.B. White in Writers at Work, Eighth Series, edited by George Plimpton, 1988  

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