Almost everyone tells and appreciates jokes. Yet the nature of jokes has proved elusive. When asked what they really mean, people tend to laugh off the question

Jokes and Targets takes up an appealing and entertaining topic—the social and historical origins of jokes about familiar targets such as rustics, Jewish spous

Observations of the Viennese psychoanalyst on curious plays on words that occur in dreams, and the unconscious sources of pleasure in jokes, wit, and humor.