I find the book to be a significant contribution to the study of British 20th century satire. It is full of interesting insights on the satirical works of Private Eye magazine and other uniquely British characters and events. The chapter on the legal repercussions of satire is a must-read.
- Salvatore Attardo, Editor-in-chief, HUMOR. International Journal of Humor Research.,
This excellent book offers new insights on satire based on a thorough overview of the extant work on humor and satire. Moreover, it provides a credible theoretical model of satire based on contemporary theories of pragmatics and discourse analysis. This book belongs in the personal library of linguists and literary critics.
- Frank Nuessel, University of Louisville, in Journal of Literary Semantics Vol. 34:1, 2004,
Simpson's <i>On the Discourse of Satire </i>presents an in depth treatment of satire as a special case not only of humor in general but of humor as discourse specifically. He accomplishes this with the aid of satirical examples throughout the text. This text should prove valuable to the specialist.
- David J. Bennett, North Park University, in Language, 2004,
This is an excellent book. As always, Paul Simpson writes clearly and humorously, using interesting and enlightening examples while at the same time giving the reader new insights and perspectives in an already much studied area. I would recommend anyone who has an interest in satire, be they linguist or literary critic, seasoned academic or beginning student, to read this book they will find it a rewarding experience.
- Malcolm Coulthard, University of Birmingham,
A book where Jonathan Swift meets Private Eye magazine, this entertaining and thought-provoking study will interest those working in stylistics, humorology, pragmatics and discourse analysis. It also has relevance for forensic discourse analysis, and for media, literary and cultural studies.