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Practically Joking by Moira MarshISBN: 9780874219845
Publication Date: 2015-07-15
In Practically Joking, the first full-length study of the practical joke, Moira Marsh examines the value, artistry, and social significance of this ancient and pervasive form of vernacular expression. Though they are sometimes dismissed as the lowest form of humor, practical jokes come from a lively tradition of expressive play. They can reveal both sophistication and intellectual satisfaction, with the best demanding significant skill and talent not only to conceive but also to execute. Practically Joking establishes the practical joke as a folk art form subject to critical evaluation by both practitioners and audiences, operating under the guidance of local aesthetic and ethical canons. Marsh studies the range of genres that pranks comprise; offers a theoretical look at the reception of practical jokes based on "benign transgression"--a theory that sees humor as playful violation--and uses real-life examples of practical jokes in context to establish the form's varieties and meanings as an independent genre, as well as its inextricable relationship with a range of folklore forms. Scholars of folklore, humor, and popular culture will find much of interest in Practically Joking.
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April Fool! by Karen Gray RuelleISBN: 9780823416868
Publication Date: 2002-03-01
Harry the cat, his little sister Emily, and their parents all play tricks on each other for April Fools' Day.
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April Fool! by Harriet ZiefertISBN: 9780670887620
Publication Date: 2000-02-01
On April first, Will plays a joke on his friends by convincing them he saw an elephant going to school, racing a bus and giving five kids a ride. April Fool! Beginning readers will laugh along with this playful April Fool's Day story.
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April Fool Dead by Carolyn HartISBN: 9780380977741
Publication Date: 2002-03-26
Death is no joke on Broward's Rock, though reading about deadly doings remains as popular a pastime as ever for citizens of the stormy South Carolina sea island. Now, with spring newly sprung, Annie Darling has conceived of an ingenious promotional scheme to draw customers into her Death on Demand bookshop for the upcoming in-store appearance by world-class mystery author Emma Clyde. Offering a free book to anyone who can solve a series of clues about popular whodunits, Annie and hubby Max pass out their flyers all over town. But an April Fool prankster is distributing a counterfeit flyer, supposedly devised by the Darlings, offering clues to several lethal local "accidents" that have occurred lately -- including the drowning of Ms. Clyde's own husband -- complete with not-so-vague accusations of murder. Suddenly the Darling name is mud, thanks to the vicious slanders of an unknown counterfeiter. And Annie knows that she herself is going to have to do the bulk of the sleuthing -- with the only intermittently effective aid of Max--if she doesn't want this particular April Fool's to last well past Memorial Day. Then, just as things couldn't seem to get any worse, they do. In the wink of a bloodshot eye, Annie's hunt for a malicious trickster has become a desperate search for a killer. Because now more than her reputation is at stake. If she can't rid her idyllic isle of a secret slayer, the malefactor's next murderous "joke" may be on her! Brimming with stunning surprises, rapier wit, and wonderful suspense -- boasting the author's trademark cast of uniquely unforgettable eccentrics -- Carolyn Hart's lucky thirteenth Death on Demand novel is an unmitigated delight, ranking with the very best of this, or any, contemporary cozy mystery series. No foolin'!
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Mud Flat April Fool by James StevensonISBN: 9780688151638
Publication Date: 1998-03-23
Something peculiar is going on in the village of Mud Flat today. Mr. Duffy has disappeared in a puff of green smoke, and Brian woke up with his head on backward. Doris is greeted by a singing tree, and poor Lila sniffs a rose that promptly squirts in her eye. What is this strange brand of spring fever? James Stevenson provides the happy answer in another hilarious visit with the lovable residents of Mud Flat.
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