Ladies Laughing

This engaging and accessible book examines the world of seven contemporary popular American women writers and their individual use of wit as a subtle and effective strategy to engage or control the reader. A chapter is devoted to each of the seven writers - Lisa Alther Rita Mae Brown Nora Ephron Shirley Jackson Alison Lurier Grace Paley and Anne Tyler - and discusses their writings and their use of wit in the context of their lives. An opening chapter frames wit and control in psychological realities and a concluding chapter summarizes the power of wit. A bibliography of the writers' works is also included making this an ideal introduction and companion to these writers and their works.