In 1978, Time magazine estimated that around 80 percent of professional American comics were Jewish. This book doesn't argue with that — it celebrates it. Joyful, irreverent, and ripe with satire, self-deprecation, and one-liners that hold up decades later, it pairs great photography of Larry David, Fran Lebowitz, Mel Brooks, Joan Rivers, Lenny Bruce, and others with the kind of wit that built American comedy as we know it.

Not a definitive tome — something better. A perfect pick-me-up that earns its laughs on every page. A New York Times Book Review holiday gift pick.