A longtime admirer of well crafted prose, word puzzles and clever turns of phrase, Gardner assembles his favorite examples of the lighter side of poetry. Illustrations.

The 126 poems in this superb collection of 19th and 20th century British and American verse range from famous poets such as Wordsworth, Tennyson, Whitman, and Frost to less well-known poets. Includes 10 selections from the Common Core State Standards Initiative.

The autobiography of the beloved writer who inspired a generation to study math and science Martin Gardner wrote the Mathematical Games column for Scientific American for twenty-five years and published more than seventy books on topics as diverse as magic, religion, and Alice in Wonderland. Gardner's illuminating autobiography is a candid self-portrait by the man evolutionary theorist Stephen Jay Gould called our "single brightest beacon" for the defense of rationality and good science against mysticism and anti-intellectualism. Gardner takes readers from his childhood in Oklahoma to his varied and wide-ranging professional pursuits. He shares colorful anecdotes about the many fascinating people he met and mentored, and voices strong opinions on the subjects that matter to him most, from his love of mathematics to his uncompromising stance against pseudoscience. For Gardner, our mathematically structured universe is undiluted hocus-pocus—a marvelous enigma, in other words. Undiluted Hocus-Pocus offers a rare, intimate look at Gardner’s life and work, and the experiences that shaped both.

Shows the ways in which humour can be recovered for religion. This book argues that religion is diminished when it fails to understand and embrace its own historical connection. Its chapters deal with topics ranging from humour as an expression of intimacy to humour as the maintenance of the soul.

Superb send-ups of classic poetry and the contemporary scene by the zany humorist, including some reprinted from Mad Magazine. Includes skewered versions of "Kubla Khan," "Oh, Captain, My Captain," "Trees" and "My Last Duchess," parody recipes, the "Zoo's Who" and take-offs on Mother Goose and sports heroes.

42 thrilling folktales include "Dapplegrim," "Tatterhood," "The Werewolf," "Such Women Are," "The Three Dogs," "Temptations," "The Magician's Pupil," "Legend of Tannhäuser," "The Outlaw," "The Widow's Son," "The Three Sisters Trapped in a Mountain," "The Blue Belt," "The Seven Ravens," and "The Goatherd" (source of the Rip van Winkle story).

Each work, chosen with exquisite care by an expert, is analyzed and summarized. Its greatness as baseball literature, its place in the genre, its peculiarities, weaknesses, strengths, how the critics went for it--all are discussed in such a way, with quotations, that reading or browsing Shannon's book is equivalent to absorbing a rich history of the sport.

Over 80 poems from the 19th and early 20th centuries, including works about love and war, ships and the sea, farms and family, life and death, heaven and hell.