Humor Me: An Anthology of Humor by Writers of Color

by John McNally (Editor)

The first anthology of its kind, Humor Me is a celebration of humor by authors from diverse cultures. Sixteen of today's most exciting writers -- among them Sherman Alexie, Gish Jen, Charles Johnson, and Lucille Clifton -- are represented in fiction, poetry, nonfiction, drama, cartoons, and graphic narratives. Whether using satire, parody, or farce, these writers explore the universal themes of love, family, sex, and race, and they do so in their own edgy, subversive, and sometimes skewed ways.In Sherman Alexie's short story "Assimilation, " a Coeur d'Alene woman wants to cheat on her white husband with an Indian man, any Indian man -- or, as Alexie puts it, "an indigenous stranger." In Sandra Tsing Loh's essay "Daddy Dearest, " the author cringes when an old friend asks if her father still wears his underwear backward and does the Chinese snake dance on Pacific Coast Highway.

Nothing in Humor Me is taboo, as Erika Lopez proves in her illustrated tale of one environmentally conscious woman's attempt to subvert the tampon industry. Jim Northrup even takes on that American institution Jeopardy! in his satire "Shinnob Jep, " describing a game that quizzes its contestants on Native American trivia, including the categories "Trick or Treaties" and "Rez Cars."

From low-brow to high-brow, from belly laughs to the cerebral, Humor Me places internationally renowned writers such as Charles Johnson and Gish Jen alongside rising stars Paisley Rekdal and Michele Serros and a host of newcomers, including Aimee Nezhukumatathil and Daniel Chacon.

Genres: Short Stories

232 pages, Paperback

First published March 5, 2002

About the author

John McNally is the author of three novels (After the Workshop, America's Report Card and The Book of Ralph) and two story collections (Ghosts of Chicago and Troublemakers). He's written two books on writing: Vivid and Continuous: Essays and Exercise for Writing Fiction and The Creative Writer's Survival Guide: Advice from an Unrepentant Novelist He's edited six fiction anthologies, on subjects ranging from superheroes to baseball. He also writes screenplays and held a Chesterfield Writer's Film Project fellowship, sponsored by Paramount Pictures. A native of Chicago's southwest side, he presently lives and teaches in Winston-Salem, North Carolina.

Reviews

[Lakisha · Rating 1 out of 5]

I thought this book would be funny. It wasn't. It read more or less like a sociological journal. The comics were interesting. That was about it.