Short Review: The topic is important. James Martin (a jesuit priest) talks about why it is not only important to allow, but encourage joy, humor and laughter in the Christian life. There are lots of jokes here, but also some real academic looks at what humor and joy are and why we need them. The weakness of the book is that it tries to do to much and get a bit boring at times. 50 pages less would have been better. And I think it would have been better if Martin had stuck to a focus on Christian need for humor instead of making it a more universal religious need. It is overwhelmingly focused on Christianity, but not exclusively.

My full review is on my blog at http://bookwi.se/heaven-mirth/