Yesterday, I received the following email:
Hi, Michael:
In my dotage I have come to realize I'd like to focus on writing satire, which feels like a good way to channel one's below-the-surface anger or other emotions into humor. (Yes, I'm a master of the obvious.)
Anyway, I am NOT asking you to write me an essay or thesis about satire, but are there two or three authors whom you would recommend I read as a way into that world? Just off the top of your head, please go to no trouble. (I have read some Mark Twain, never read Vonnegut, have sampled most of the New Yorker writers.)”
Happy to help. Just off the top of my head:
