Acknowledgments xv
Introduction: Kinesic humor and the dynamics of gesture 1
1. Milton: Surprised by humor 25
2. Sterne: The naturalness of a toe movement 51
3. Saint-Simon: Speed and touch, or how to push a duke 63
4. Rousseau: Fast breathing and trembling hands 81
5. Stendhal: Walking styles and emotional practice 93
6. Ovid and Chrétien de Troyes: Pyramus, Thisbe, and Yvain’s hypersensitive lion 106
7. Cervantes: Laughing at a metaphor 132
Conclusion: Jacques Tati and Eddie Izzard 153
Notes 159
Bibliography 171
Index 203
