The Oxford Book of Parodies

by John Gross (Editor)

Parodies come in all shapes and sizes. There are broad parodies and subtle parodies, ingenious imitations and knockabout spoofs, scornful lampoons and affectionate pastiches. All these varieties, and many others, appear in this delightful anthology, which has been hailed as "delightful" ( Wall Street Journal ), "enjoyable" ( The New Yorker ), and "sparkling" ( The Financial Times ). The classics of the genre are all here, but so are scores of lesser known but scarcely less brilliant works. At every stage there are surprises. Proust visits Chelsea, Yeats re-writes "Old King Cole," Harry Potter encounters Mick Jagger, a modernized Sermon on the Mount rubs shoulders with an obituary of Sherlock Holmes. The collection provides a hilarious running commentary on literary history, but it also looks beyond literature to include such things as ad parodies, political parodies, and even a scientific hoax. The collection includes work by such accomplished parodists as Max Beerbohm, Robert
Benchley, H. L. Mencken, and Evelyn Waugh. And the "victims" include Chaucer, Shakespeare, Milton, Wordsworth, Poe, Longfellow, Emily Dickinson, Cole Porter, Martin Amis, and many others.

Genres: Literature, Humor

368 pages, Paperback

First published September 1, 2010

About the author

John Gross was the editor of The Times Literary Supplement in London, a senior book editor and book critic on the staff of The New York Times in New York, and theatre critic for The Sunday Telegraph. He was also literary editor of The New Statesman and Spectator magazines.

Reviews

[Rena Sherwood · Rating 2 out of 5]

I'm going to give up on the Oxford Book Of anthology series. This is the fourth or fifth one I've read and it's real work getting through these. This is the worst of the bunch. It's more a history of parodies in England than a collection of anything you may get a laugh from. One parody is in French. FRENCH! Now, granted, editor John Gross may assume that all readers are bi-lingual and that's a bit of a compliment, but I am sorry to disappoint him as I am merely monolingual.


There's very little here to make you laugh -- or even smile. Most of the parodies need explanations from John Gross as to what is being parodied. That kinda slows the humor down. He also organizes things poorly. The book is in two sections and I really don't understand if there was supposed to be a difference in the sections. He also explains some terms at the end of many selections in a confusing way. I'd explain how he screwed it up, but it's really not worth going into. Besides, I'd probably lose what's left of my tiny little mind thinking about that again.

So, in the end, most of the selections leave you feeling like


There is a parody of a speech by former Prime Minister Tony Blair. Sadly the speech was not really a parody as it was frighteningly accurate. There was also a parody of an article by Professor Stephen Hawking. As I happened to read it the day after he died it became more chilling than anything else. Quite frankly, the only good parodies were of the Harry Potter books, T. S. Eliot (oh, is my English major showing) and of the Christmas hymn, "Good King Wencesles."

Oh, and there are not one, not two but THREE Sherlock Holmes parodies -- all widely published in Sherlock Holmes-related books. I like Sherlock Holmes by JEEZ...talk about going overboard...

[Ch J Loveall · Rating 4 out of 5]

Read parodies pertinent to 17th C material only. Did not take long but only somewhat amusing and informative.

[Mike · Rating 4 out of 5]

Parody is an imitation which exaggerates the characteristics of a work or a style for comic effect.

Several on Johnson, including Beerbohm. He was one of the 1st governors of the Gough Square house.
Raymond Chandler cooks lamb
Anon on Porter's You're The Top (May be Porter or Berlin)
Updike on Kerouac's On the Road
Crace on Martin Amis' Success & McEwan's Saturday
Carrol's Alice books are parodies

[John Adams · Rating 2 out of 5]

A few gems, but mostly who cares.