Last Laughs: Perspectives on Women and Comedy (Studies in Gender and Culture, 2) Regina Barreca, Editor Gordon & Breach September 1988 ISBN#: 0677220200 (Hardcover) June 1988 ISBN#: 0677220308 (Paperback) Available online at Amazon.com in Hardcover and Paperback The nineteen original essays (and three "Sylvia" cartoons) included in this volume deal with the gender-specific nature of comedy. This pioneering collection observes the creation of women's comedy from a wide range of standpoints: political, sociological, psychoanalytical, linguistic, and historical. The writers explore the role of women's comedy in familiar and unfamiliar territory, from Austen to Weldon, from Behn to Wasserstein. The questions they raise will lead to a redefinition of the genre itself. The essays in this volume also appear as Volume 15, Numbers 1 through 3 of the journal Women's Studies ~If laughter as Mikhail Bakhtin said, is one of the essential forms of truth, this book leads us to new laughs and new truths. --Times Literary Supplement Available online at Amazon.com in Hardcover and Paperback