Contains a collection of American and English humor from such outstanding contributors as Woody Allen, Damon Runyon, Trumon Capote, Groucho Marx, Art Buchwald, Roy Blount, Jr., Fran Liebowitz, Philip Roth, and Eudora Welty.

Gertrude the governess: Or simple seventeen / Stephen Leacock -- King Lear's daughter / Maurice Baring -- Recollections of notable cops / H. L. Mencken -- Butch minds the baby / Damon Runyon -- Ukridge's accident syndicate / P. G. Wodehouse -- The busher's honeymoon / Ring Lardner -- Correspondence with David Wallace / Marianne Moore -- Opera Synopses / Robert Benchley -- If men played cards as women do / George S. Kaufman -- Letters to Warner Brothers and Gummo Marx / Groucho Marx -- The cliche expert testifies on love / Frank Sullivan -- The intrusions of Captain Foulenough / J. B. Morton (Beachcomber) -- The breaking up of the Winships / James Thurber -- Across the street and into the grill / E. B. White -- Time...fortune...life...Luce / Wolcott Gibbs -- excerpt from Cold Comfort Farm / Stella Gibbons -- Winner takes all / Evelyn Waugh -- "Nothing but a little pissant" excerpt from The Earl of Louisiana / A. J. Liebling -- Farewell, my lovely appetizer / S. J. Perelman -- Mr. K*A*P*L*A*N, the comparative, and the superlative, excerpt from The education of H*Y*M*A*N K*A*P*L*A*N / Leo Rosten -- Why I live at the P. O. / Eudora Welty -- Requiem for a noun, or intruder in the dusk / Peter de Vries -- Keats and Chapman / Flann O'Brien (Myles na Gopaleen) -- The chaste Clarissa / John Cheever -- The Gettysburg Address in Eisenhowerese / Oliver Jensen -- excerpt from To Jerusalem and back / Saul Bellow -- Emigration, excerpt from Daughters and Rebels / Jessica Mitford -- Another goddam Englishman, excerpt from One fat Englishman / Kingsley Amis -- Report on the Barnhouse effect / Kurt Vonnegut, Jr. -- Gold's stepmother, excerpt from Good as gold / Joseph Heller -- excerpt from Clinging to the wreckage / John Mortimer -- Toujours Tristesse / Jean Kerr -- A day's work / Truman Capote -- I am Mike Hammer / Terry Southern -- Chef Reinhart, excerpt from Reinhart's Women / Thomas Berger -- Bomb math / Russell Baker -- Saving paper / Art Buchwald -- Just plain folks / Kenneth Tynan -- YMA dream / Thomas Meehan -- Bernie Perk, excerpt from The Dick Gibson Show / Stanley Elkin -- The lonely guy's apartment / Bruce Jay Friedman -- Four hacks / Wilfrid Sheed -- Game / Donald Barthelme -- The mechanical genius / V. S. Naipaul -- The mid-Atlantic man / Tom Wolfe -- Whacking off, excerpt from Portnoy's complaint / Philip roth -- Dinner at Binny's, excerpt from Injury time / Beryl Bainbridge -- The Kugelmass episode / Woody Allen -- Popular Workbench / Bruce McCall -- Dinner at the de la Rentas' / Calvin Trillin -- How to be a Jewish mother / Dan Greenburg -- Hip wedding on Mount Tam, excerpt from The serial / Cyra McFadden -- Long ago and far away / Alan Coren -- The analytic napkin / Marshall Brickman -- Mrs. Proby gets hers, excerpt from Three Wogs / Alexander Theroux -- A few words about breasts / Nora Ephron -- The oranging of America / Max Apple -- Trash no more / Roy Blount, Jr. -- My Mao / Veronica Geng -- Shy rights: Why not pretty soon? / Garrison Keillor -- The commune, excerpt from Kinflicks / Lisa Alther -- America's cup '83: The sherpa's challenge / Lynn Caraganis -- Notes on "Trick" / Fran Lebowitz -- Dating your mom / Ian Frazier.