Humor in the Caribbean Literary Canon

"Recommended." - Choice

"Humor remains classed, gendered, and very serious business in Caribbean literary spheres, perhaps because of the acute self-consciousness of the region's middle class about being perceived as respectable and/or modern. Vasquez' study crosses canonical and generic borders in unexpected ways - a novel by Hurston, the poetry of Bennett and McKay, the plays of Walcott and Césaire, in the same conversation. This offers us unexpected and refreshing juxtapositions, and prompts new questions and perspectives." - Faith Smith, Brandeis University

"An extraordinarily insightful book on the delightful topic of Caribbean literary humor. Vasquez makes us think hard about the transformative power of laughter." - Lawrence La Fountain-Stokes, University of Michigan, author of Queer Ricans: Cultures and Sexualities in the Diaspora