[O]ne of the most complex and sophisticated humor theories ever presented…. The authors should be lauded for their thought-provoking and original work.—Evolutionary Psychology—
The theory [the authors] elaborate is a detailed and sophisticated descendant of incongruity theories…. The learned and even-handed stance adopted by [them] regarding problem cases is… upbeat: they regard their theory as a provisional staging post, and a prompt to further empirical enquiry into these open-ended issues. On balance, that is probably the right attitude to take.
—
The Times Literary Supplement—
Inside Jokes is the most persuasive theory of humor in the centuries that scientists have been trying to explain why we crack up. Extra bonus: unlike most such research, which is about as funny as a root canal, Hurley’s analysis is—and I don’t think I’m going out on too much of a limb here—the funniest thing the MIT Press… has ever published (in a good way).
—
Sharon Begley,
The Daily Beast—
Science advances by asking new questions, and Matthew Hurley, Daniel Dennett, and Reginald Adams raise a lot of them…. Some of these questions have been asked before, but no previous attempt succeeds in answering so many so well.
—
Walter Sinnott-Armstrong,
Science—
