For more than two thousand years we have known satirists as those wits who expose hypocrisy and deftly stick shafts into our ballooned egos. Collectively we resent this perspicacity-satirists are never much liked. We give them their due, however, by admiring their ability to make us laugh while they make us squirm.
Introduction to Satire explains fully how the satirist manages to express his criticism in forms that society is willing to accept-in spite of the fact that no one likes to be criticized.
New introduction by Don L. F. Nilsen, Historian. International Society for Humor Studies.
