Laughing to keep from dying : African American satire in the twenty-first century /

Laughing to Keep from Dying is a wonderful addition to "The New Black Studies Series." Morgan (Santa Clara Univ.) describes satire as a subversive tactic that works to both acknowledge the kaleidoscope of Blackness and disrupt social expectations of Blackness--thereby uncovering Black interior space. The exceedingly well-written, well-researched introduction inspires new readings of 18th-, 19th-, and 20th-century texts and cultural performances that embrace the writers'/performers' astute understanding of how race and racialization function in US society. Morgan situates satire as a form of resistance brought to the US by enslaved Africans and refined through history. It was, she maintains, a survival technique and a source of personhood validation for both performers and audiences. She connects satire to contemporary writers, events, and performers who eschew the notion of a post-racial American society. Morgan harkens back to the slave era to demonstrate the continuity in the satirical tradition and explores what happens when satire misses its mark because it is first and foremost effective with an "in-group" that allows the opening of Black interior space "that wards off psychic, or even physical, death." Discussions of Richard Pryor, Dave Chappell, and Leslie Jones are riveting, as are Morgan's analyses of movies, resistance narratives, and contemporary novels. Summing Up: Recommended. Upper-division undergraduates through faculty. --Adele Sheron Newson-Horst, Morgan State University

Many comics hone their craft primarily to amuse, but with this thoughtful, academic work, Morgan (English, Santa Clara Univ.) explores the idea of Black satire with an added function: to more or less safely rock the boat, expressing ideas that might otherwise be tuned out or provoke uncomfortable or even dangerous backlash. In this work, which joins about 30 other volumes in the "New Black Studies" series, Morgan rejects the idea of a postracist society and instead looks at how satire illustrates the spectrum of Black experience, illuminates Black interior thought and feelings, and delivers messages to audiences who may be closed to hearing them without laughter to create a space for discussion. Opening with a chapter on "Slavery and the Satiric Impulse," the book moves chronologically, including discussions of Black women presented as Mammy and Jezebel, comedians such as Dave Chappelle and Issa Rae, and the success of Jordan Peele with Get Out. Richard Pryor is mentioned; Bill Cosby is not. Readers may particularly appreciate the analysis of "satiric misfires" such as Ted Danson's blackface performance at the roast of his then-partner Whoopi Goldberg, along with stand-up riffs and Saturday Night Live sketches gone wrong. VERDICT This scholarly analysis may find its audience in academic performing arts collections.--Maggie Knapp, Trinity Valley Sch., Fort Worth, TX