How do we categorize The Princess Bride?

[Cameron]

How should The Princess Bride ultimately be categorized: Satire? Adventure? Romance? Fantasy? Is the title ironic? Does it imply a tame love story or a traditional piece of children’s literature?

[Phillip]

I'd say the book should be categorized under all of the categories you listed. I think it draws artfully from all of them. Not too heavily in one category to make the story seem lopsided or delve too deep. Maybe that's why it's so universally loved? A little bit for everyone?
The wikipedia entry says: "The book's actual roots are in stories Goldman would tell to his daughters, one of whom had requested a story about "princesses" and the other "brides".[2] Goldman describes the earliest character names from the "kid's saga" as "silly names: Buttercup, Humperdinck"."
I thought the names were awesome. They reflected very well the satirical, light-hearted nature of the book. That feeling is also conveyed in the title. It toes the line of "Is he serious?" and "Yeah, I guess something like that could happen." I felt myself cross that line several times.