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Plato and a Platypus Walk into a Bar . . .: Understanding Philosophy Through Jokes Spiral-Bound | June 24, 2008

Thomas Cathcart, Daniel Klein

★★★☆☆+ from 10,001 to 50,000 ratings

$19.77 - Free Shipping

This New York Times bestseller is the hilarious philosophy course everyone wishes they’d had in school.

Outrageously funny, Plato and a Platypus Walk into a Bar... has been a breakout bestseller ever since authors—and born vaudevillians—Thomas Cathcart and Daniel Klein did their schtick on NPR’s Weekend Edition. Lively, original, and powerfully informative, Plato and a Platypus Walk Into a Bar... is a not-so-reverent crash course through the great philosophical thinkers and traditions, from Existentialism (What do Hegel and Bette Midler have in common?) to Logic (Sherlock Holmes never deduced anything). Philosophy 101 for those who like to take the heavy stuff lightly, this is a joy to read—and finally, it all makes sense!

And now, you can read Daniel Klein's further musings on life and philosophy in Travels with Epicurus and Every Time I Find the Meaning of Life, They Change it. 
Publisher: Penguin Random House
Original Binding: Trade Paperback
Pages: 224 pages
ISBN-10: 0143113879
Item Weight: 0.4 lbs
Dimensions: 5.0 x 0.6 x 7.0 inches
Customer Reviews: 3 out of 5 stars 10,001 to 50,000 ratings
"[Cathcart and Klein] know their stuff, and wear their learnedness lightly, and Plato and a Platypus is a pleasure to read.…I can't help but love this book, and I have been quoting liberally from it" —Philosophy Now

"A Hoot." —Times Literary Supplement

"What happens when you mix corny jokes, one-liners and vaudeville humour with some of life's great lessons? You get an extraordinary read you'll want to share with as many people as possible." —Orlando Sentinel

“The zaniest bestseller of the year.” —The Boston Globe

“I laughed, I learned, I loved it.” —Roy Blount, Jr.
Thomas Cathcart and Daniel Klein studied philosophy together at Harvard in the last millennium. Since then Danny has written comedy for Lily Tomlin, Flip Wilson, and others, and published scores of fiction and nonfiction books— from thrillers to entertaining philosophical books, such as his London Times bestseller Travels with Epicurus and his most recent book, Every Time I Find the Meaning of Life, They Change It.  Born in 1939, Danny persists in denying his mortality.  He thinks it's a joke.
 
Thomas Cathcart studied theology and managed health care organi­zations before linking up with Danny to write Plato and a Platypus Walk into a Bar, Aristotle and an Aardvark Go to Washington, and I Think Therefore I Draw. He is also the author of The Trolley Problem, or Would You Throw the Fat Guy Off the Bridge? and There is no God and Mary is His Mother: Rediscovering Religionless Christianity