Funny Business: Conversations with Writers of Comedy by Leonard S. Marcus (Candlewick, $19.99, 9780763632540/0763632546, 224 pp., ages 10-up, October 2009)
As he did with his The Wand in the Word: Conversations with Writers of Fantasy (available in paperback in October also from Candlewick, $14.99, 9780763645564/0763645567), master interviewer and renowned children's literature scholar Leonard S. Marcus selects 13 representative authors to delve deeply into a genre well-loved by young people. In The Wand in the Word, the focus was fantasy; here it is humor. Each interview offers--among other things--a window into what the writers were like as children, their first encounters with humor (whether making a joke themselves or recognizing someone else's pun) and their advice to young aspiring authors. Judy Blume used humor to broach challenging, and even previously taboo topics, such as sex, ridicule and divorce. One of Sharon Creech's first practical uses of humor was to divert her parents from an argument. Anne Fine, who grew up in Britain in the aftermath of World War II, says, "The pain of being aware of what is going on around you is often what galvanizes a person to wit and humor." As Christopher Paul Curtis puts it, referring to the days when he worked in the auto factory, "Humor is a survival tactic." That was certainly true for Carl Hiaasen, who skipped a grade and was physically smaller and socially "behind"; he used "a smart-ass sense of humor to disarm the situation" with bullies on the school bus. Hilary McKay goes for the laughter of recognition, by capturing the way people talk "with no frills, no comments on it yourself." And then there's Daniel Pinkwater: "I am not funny. I am just misunderstood."
Certain subthemes emerge among the various authors' profiles, such as Daniel Handler (aka Lemony Snicket) and Norton Juster's love of the Marx brothers, many of the authors' fondness for puns as well as Mad magazine and the way logical progressions play out in the writing of humor. Jon Scieszka, for instance, describes precisely how "humor is mathematical"; Louis Sachar says that one of his cards-playing friends thought that "the story of Holes unfolds with the logic of a bridge hand." And there is a wealth of guidance here for young writers, mostly about the fruits of revision. Christopher Paul Curtis, who says he may revise a chapter 78 times, advises that "revising is like working with smaller and smaller screwdrivers." Beverly Cleary, too, says, "I've decided I don't like to write but I love to revise." And readers will be uplifted by the inspiring story of Dick King-Smith, who was first published at age 56. Whether children are looking for writing tips or simply more information about their favorite authors, they are certain to savor this collection.--Jennifer M. Brown
