
With brand new cartoons by Don Hooper, and a foreword by Jeff Danziger, I Could Hardly Keep from Laughing is a potpourri of art and words documenting how Vermont humor has evolved over 150 years. While re-telling some stories from previous collections, the authors gather together more than a dozen modern humorists in this exuberant, charming, and affectionate history of Vermont humor.
"Mares has combed the archives, Hooper has scribbled up some characters. Slathered in irreverence, and aided by a score of other wit-sters, their book gives you the real deal of Vermont's rich history of humor."
-Anne Galloway, VTDigger.org founder and president
"What a delightful respite from the woes of Washington to read this quirky treasury of humor in Vermont! Mares catalogues well-known and novel tales of Vermont's well-known and unknown, while Hooper brightens the pages with over 100 cartoons that will bring chuckles to all but the grouchiest."
-Congressman Peter Welch
"When Hooper and Mares got together to write I Could Hardly Keep from Laughing, they made sure you won't be able to either. Most writers have to CRAFT titles for their books; Hooper and Mares ARE their own titles."
-Frank Bryan, University of Vermont professor and humorist