The Big Book of Irony

The cover alone gets a star. But irony remains undefined. And there aren't enough examples - the book is short and a lot of the words are quotes from other people attempting to define it.

I was especially bothered by the Morissette example. Supposedly everybody know's that Alanis's hit song was about coincidences, sad and random things. But just a dozen pages later, Winokur defines ambient irony as that which "results for the difference between what we want and what we get." Well, doesn't a "a no-smoking sign on your cigarette break" fit that?

Whatever. I don't care. Sometimes I'm a little cynical, but I'm never malicious or flip, and one of the chapters of the book argues against irony and for sincerity. Another argues for irony and show more clear-sightedness & skepticism. So, Winokur is apparently saying, ultimately, 'you decide.'

I did learn that 'roman' is French for 'novel' which explains why the classic adventure stories are called 'romances' even when there's no love affair.

And I like this quote by [a:Agnes Repplier|481293|Agnes Repplier|https://images.gr-assets.com/authors/1407457778p2/481293.jpg], from [b:In Pursuit of Laughter|20340960|In Pursuit of Laughter|Agnes Repplier|https://images.gr-assets.com/books/1388296932s/20340960.jpg|28276288]: "Humor brings insight and tolerance. Irony brings a deeper and less friendly understanding."

Not a bad book, but I recommend it only if you're truly interested, and can get it from your library. Even then, I recommend you feel free to skim. show less

Nonfiction book that looks at irony. There is a little bit of explanation, but mostly quotations as examples.

I still don’t understand. By definition, it still sounds like sarcasm to me. Examples didn’t help. In addition, there are about 50,000 different types of irony, apparently. (OK, slight exaggeration.) A few examples were amusing (Billy Joel’s 11-year old daughter asking him not to sing – is this ironic?), but still didn’t help me understand. It started with explanations of the different types of irony, then a history of irony (all with examples). There were various examples of authors using irony, irony in pop culture (Alanis Morissette’s song, of course, mentioned more than once that those things aren’t ironic; The show more Simpsons, and other examples). At least it was fast to read. I liked that there were a number of Canadian examples. But I still don’t “get” it. Honestly, with all the various different types of irony, I’m probably more confused than ever. show less

A helpful and funny guide to irony for the popular masses. Winokur is an excellent researcher and archivalist. I found that I had a very enjoyable time reading through the snippets of the history of irony. For what it is, this book is great. However, more serious ironists should check out Linda Hutcheon, Claire Colebrook, let alone the master in Soren Kierekgaard's doctoral dissertation itself.