Stop Me If You've Heard This reads like a tall tale. In fact, it's what Jim Holt might call a "long joke," which, unlike a one-liner, could take an hour to tell. Holt strings the reader along, extending incredulity and curiosity, as he offers unlikely tidbits about the history and philosophy of jokes through detail-rich, well-delivered narration. No matter how preposterous some of it may seem, it is safe to assume this veteran reporter of both the BBC and the New Yorker is faithful to the facts. Holt discusses joke collectors and humor philosophers including such characters as G. Legman, the man who invented the vibrating dildo and coined the Phrase "Make Love, Not War."

He finds that many of the jokes created in the past 50 years were coined by either stockbrokers or prisoners — unlikely bedfellows who also circulate old jests dating as far back as the 4th or 5th century AD. These ancient comedies were first recorded in the Philogelos — the oldest surviving joke book — the New Testament, or Poggio Bracciolini's Facetiae.

Leaving origin behind and tackling philosophy, Holt considers Freud's theory that jokes, like dreams, "are essentially a means of outwitting our inner censor." Next, he looks at the "superiority theory," expounded by Plato, Hobbes, and Bergson, which contends that making fun of others makes people feel better about themselves. Lastly, he addresses the "incongruity theory" — propagated by Pascal, Kant, and Schopenhauer, it asserts that unexpected departures from seriousness are what jar people into fits of laughter. Holt concludes that each of these theories apply in certain cases.

Whatever mechanism it is that makes for a good joke, Holt believes that humor is a serious area of study, worth being understood and further developed. Some jokes are perverse, while others are political, and they variously arrive as one-liners, knock-knocks, parables, or following the rule of three. Take the latter, for example: What do you get when you cross humor, philosophy, and history? Stop Me If You've Heard This.

-Robyn Hillman-Harrigan