Humor and Comedy
The Full Text of 198 Books
Compiled by Richard Seltzer B&R Samizdat Express - January 31, 2003
ISBN: 0-931968-19-4
Genre: Humor, Fiction
Reviewed by Rochelle Caviness - March 4, 2003
There are few things necessary for life, such as air, food, heat, water, and shelter. While such necessities may make life possible, the quality of such an existence may be bleak - at best. However, even the most dismal of situations can be enliven by one simple element - humor. The ability to laugh has an energizing quality that can enable man to persevere in the harshest of circumstances and against untold odds.
In Richard Selzter's new compilation, Humor and Comedy, you will find enough material to get you through your darkest days, foulest moods, and the propherbial tough humps. Containing the full text of 198 books, this CD will also help to make a good day better. Additionally, these books provide a wealth of insights and theory into the nature and scope of humor and comedy.
The works contained in this collection run the gamut from classic narrations, such as Cupid and Psyche by Apuleius to more modern endeavors such as Oscar Wilde's, The Importance of Being Earnest. This is not a collection of jokes or stand-up comedy routines, rather it is an urbane collection that representing a cross-section of humor and comedy found in Western Literature. Due to copyright restrictions, most of the works in this collection were originally published before 1923's.
This collection exemplifies not only the depth of humor and comedy to be found in western literature, but is also provides readers with access to a wide body of literary works that make extensive use of humor or comedic elements.
A sampling of works included in this collection include:
Droll Stories (in English), by Honore de Balzac
The Decameron, by Boccaccio
Through the Looking Glass, by Lewis Carroll
Don Quixote (in English and Spanish), by Miguel de Cervantes
The Canterbury Tales and Other Poems, by Geoffrey Chaucer
The History of Tom Jones, by Henry Fielding
14 complete plays by William S. Gilbert and Sir Arthur Sullivan
The Inspector General, by Nikolai Gogol
Lincoln's Yarns and Stories, by Abraham Lincoln
Yvette, by Guy de Maupassant
Don Juan (in French), by Moliere
The Taming of the Shrew, by William Shakespeare
A Modest Proposal, by Jonathan Swift
The Stolen White Elephant, by Mark Twain
A complete list of all the books contained in this delightful collection can be found online at: www.samizdat.com/humorcd.html
In addition to containing an entire 'humor' library on one CD, this collection is enhanced by the inclusion of two reading programs, ReadPlease and READIT. ReadPlease is a screen reading program that 'reads' the books texts aloud. Readit is a DOS program that helps blind and visually impaired individuals access plain text documents. All the books contained on this CD are offered in plain text formats, and they are all accessible with traditional screen reading and magnification programs.
ReadIt
This CD ships with a program by DLJ Software called READIT. This is a DOS, shareware program that presents the text on a black screen with white type. This program will also help you navigate through the files, and books on the CD, using only keyboard functions. It allows you to scroll through the files, and once you select a book, it allows you to bookmark your place, and jump to your 'bookmark' when you begin reading again. This program also allows you to search through the text and to jump to various sections or lines. It also allows you to adjust how fast, or slow, the text is displayed as you read through the book.
ReadPlease
ReadPlease is a windows-based screen reading program. Their homepage is located at: www.readplease.com/ Two versions of the ReadPlease program come with the CD, a free version and ReadPlease Plus, a commercial shareware version. To use the program, you simply highlight the text you want read to you, and the computer will read it aloud. In the free version you can only highlight 16,000 bytes of text at one time, whereas with the commercial version you can set the program to read an unlimited amount of text at one time.
Both versions of ReadPlease have a low vision color option. However, only the commercial version offers extra large buttons.
Besides being able to read texts in English, you can also download additional languages that will enable the program to read texts in UK English, French, German, Portuguese, Dutch, and Italian. You will find information on how, and from where, to download these additional language modules in the instructions on the ReadPlease main window once you launch the program.
Instruction on how to use both programs can be found in the CD's 'readme' file. Both programs also come with complete instructions, and both versions of the program can be used to read other files on your computer, beyond those found on this CD.
System Requirements
Windows PC
A web browser such as Explorer or Netscape,
or a word processing program such as Word or WordPerfect.
