Table of Contents

Introduction Comic Hero With A Thousand Faces; 1: Tragic Weights and Comic Balances—The Tragic Hero; 2: The Agony And The Golden Mean—The Comic Hero; 3: Tragic Castles And Comic Cottages—The Rogue; 4: A Voice Laughing In The Wilderness—The Humorist; 5: Will the Real Adam and Eve Please Stand up?— The Comedian; 6: Jester to the Kingdoms of Earth—The Fool; 7: Putting Humpty-Dumpty Together Again— The Clown; 8: A Happy Ending of Sorts—The Underdog; 9: Wandering Within The Great Food-Chain Of Being—The Trickster; 10: Between Dreams And Dust—The Simpleton

About the Author

Conrad Hyers is professor emeritus in the Department of Religion at Gustavus Adolphus College in Minnesota. He is the author of many books on humor, including The Laughing Buddha, And God Created Laughter, and Zen and the Comic Spirit.