The Jewish Joke: An essay with examples (less essay, more examples) - Hardcover

This book is funny, clever and, at times, heartbreaking. In other words, Jewish. (David Baddiel 2017-06-15)

A Jew and a non-Jew read Devorah Baum's The Jewish Joke. They both found it hilarious and thought-provoking. Because it is. (David Schneider 2017-07-10)

Devorah Baum's breezy, accessible new meditation on how [Jewish] humour works, and why it is so integral to Jewish identity... There is much for the scholar to enjoy in Baum's erudite but lightly sketched analysis of how humour helps us to deal with ageing, dislocation, impossible families and sexual confusion. Alternatively, you could just read it for the gags. (Matthew Reisz Times Higher 2017-10-26)

Hers is the book to turn to if you're looking to amuse your friends and has something in common with the joke books we used to pass around as kids ... [it shows] the sorrow that is the dark underside of laughter - sorrow that belongs to everyone. (Erica Wagner New Statesman 2017-11-10)

Even the most avid collectors of Jewish jokes are likely to find fresh material in it (The Economist 2017-11-10)

The dozens of examples [the book] contains are strung together by illuminating analysis ... Baum's books direct us towards laughter when the other option feels tempting, and for that we owe the author our thanks. (Keiron Pim Spectator 2017-11-24)