{"product_id":"rude-talk-in-athens-ancient-rivals-the-birth-of-comedy-and-a-writers-journey-through-greece-hardcover","title":"Rude Talk in Athens: Ancient Rivals, the Birth of Comedy, and a Writer's Journey Through Greece - Hardcover","description":"\u003cp\u003eby \u003cb\u003eMark Haskell Smith\u003c\/b\u003e (Author)\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003cb\u003e\u003ci\u003eRude Talk in Athens\u003c\/i\u003e is brave, brilliant, and incredibly funny. There are loads of very specific characters, including Mark himself. It's the Mark Haskell Smith version of hanging out with Stanley Tucci and Anthony Bourdain, but in present day and ancient Greece. I agree with everything he says about comedy and have never read anything like it. ―Barry Sonnenfeld, Film Director and author of \u003ci\u003eBarry Sonnenfeld, Call Your Mother: Memoirs of a Neurotic Filmmaker\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e \u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e In ancient Athens, thousands would attend theatre festivals that turned writing into a fierce battle for fame, money, and laughably large trophies. While the tragedies earned artistic respect, it was the comedies--the raunchy jokes, vulgar innuendo, outrageous invention, and barbed political commentary--that captured the imagination of the city. \u003cbr\u003e The writers of these comedic plays feuded openly, insulting one another from the stage, each production more inventive and outlandish than the last, as they tried to win first prize. Of these writers, only the work of Aristophanes has survived and it's only through his plays that we know about his peers: Cratinus, the great lush; Eupolis, the copycat; and Ariphrades, the sexual deviant. It might have been the golden age of Democracy, but for comic playwrights, it was the age of Rude Talk. \u003cbr\u003e Watching a production of an Aristophanes play in 2019 CE and seeing the audience laugh uproariously at every joke, Mark Haskell Smith began to wonder: what does it tell us about society and humanity that these ancient punchlines still land? When insults and jokes made thousands of years ago continue to be both offensive and still make us laugh? \u003cbr\u003e Through conversations with historians, politicians, and other writers, the always witty and effusive Smith embarks on a personal mission (bordering on obsession) exploring the life of one of these unknown writers, and how comedy challenged the patriarchy, the military, and the powers that be, both then and now. A comic writer himself and author of many books and screenplays, Smith also looks back at his own career, his love for the uniquely dynamic city of Athens, and what it means for a writer to leave a legacy.\u003ch3\u003eAuthor Biography\u003c\/h3\u003e\u003cp\u003eMARK HASKELL SMITH is the author of six novels with one-word titles including \u003ci\u003eMoist\u003c\/i\u003e, \u003ci\u003eSalty\u003c\/i\u003e, and \u003ci\u003eBlown\u003c\/i\u003e; as well as the non-fiction books \u003ci\u003eHeart of Dankness: Underground Botanists, Outlaw Farmers, and the Race for the Cannabis Cup\u003c\/i\u003e and \u003ci\u003eNaked at Lunch: A Reluctant Nudist's Adventures in the Clothing-Optional World\u003c\/i\u003e. His work has appeared in the Los Angeles Times, the Los Angeles Review of Books, Salon, Vulture, Alta, and Literary Hub. He is an associate professor in the MFA program for Writing and Writing for the Performing Arts at the University of California Riverside, Palm Desert Graduate Center.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cdiv\u003e\n\u003cstrong\u003eNumber of Pages:\u003c\/strong\u003e 203\u003c\/div\u003e\u003cdiv\u003e\n\u003cstrong\u003eDimensions:\u003c\/strong\u003e 0.94 x 8.11 x 5.04 IN\u003c\/div\u003e\u003cdiv\u003e\n\u003cstrong\u003eIllustrated:\u003c\/strong\u003e Yes\u003c\/div\u003e\u003cdiv\u003e\n\u003cstrong\u003ePublication Date:\u003c\/strong\u003e August 17, 2021\u003c\/div\u003e","brand":"Books by splitShops","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":51767953260832,"sku":"9781951213343","price":26.0,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":false}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0974\/9764\/5344\/files\/820e39b6c431f9e453ab467fcc128054.webp?v=1780321425","url":"https:\/\/ebocreations.com\/products\/rude-talk-in-athens-ancient-rivals-the-birth-of-comedy-and-a-writers-journey-through-greece-hardcover","provider":"The E-Book Oasis LLC","version":"1.0","type":"link"}