The serious study of humor has burgeoned in the last two decades, spawning a wealth of publications touching upon an array of topics crossing national, cultural, and disciplinary lines. This research bibliography captures the vibrancy and significance of the field of humor studies while documenting its output. Organized into ten broad chapters reflecting types of humor and topics of humor research, it provides extensive bibliographies on forty-five fields of humor study, each introduced by an essay outlining trends and pointing to major findings. An appendix of humor research institutes, journals, scholars and academic programs as well as a subject and author index to the thousands of sources complete the volume.

Intended largely for library use by scholars and students in humor studies, the volume's topical essays are valuable for text use in related courses; the work's extensive bibliographies will foster research in diverse fields with a focus on humor.