June 2011

Harper’s Magazine features Ashton Applewhite (aka Blanche Knott):

“Being Blanche: Coming clean about Truly Tasteless Jokes”
By Ashton Applewhite

Excerpt:

“In 1977, I was a nerdy bookworm in my mid-twenties without much of a career plan. I moved to New York City and got a job as an assistant editor at St. Martin’s Press, and it was there that I developed a reputation for knowing a lot of jokes, especially the kind that make you cringe and laugh at the same time. People would tell me jokes at parties, or call me up with a new one, and I’d return the favor to an ever-widening circle of aficionados. I remember the phone call one morning in the fall of 1981: “What kind of wood doesn’t float?”

Got me.

“Natalie.” (And why didn’t she shower on the boat? She preferred to wash up on shore.)

The complete article appears in the June 2011 edition of Harper’s Magazine available now on newsstands and on the web (subscription required) at Harper’s Magazine online – http://www.harpers.org

What the Press Says About Truly Tasteless Jokes

“A nice hostess present for your most deranged friends.”
—Philadelphia Inquirer

“You better believe the title means what it says.”
— Washington Post

Reader Comments

“I personally find this to be an indisposable book of dirty jokes. I mean, come on! It runs the whole gamut of everything from racist and sexist jokes to religion and animals. Yes, yes, it is QUITE offensive–BUT ONLY IF YOU CAN’T TAKE A JOKE.”

*

“Depending on the crowd you associate with, reciting jokes from this book could make you a notable comedian or look like an immature, and possibly perverted/demented, individual. Very few things offend me, so I found this book to be highly entertaining. If you are regularly concerned with social acceptability, spend your time elsewhere.”

*

“Had a fight with your old lady? Mad at the Jews? Getting a bad rap from Blacks? Tired of all the homosexuals in your work place? Just pull this little sucker out for a quick glance, and it will bring your spirits back up. This book doesn’t discriminate. It’s got something for everybody. Oh, and it’s also a great little party favor. Uh, that is… just so long as you know the people at the party. I mean, really KNOW them.”

*

“There is no walk of life that is left out of this terrible humor! Had the book for years, and someone literally STOLE it off the back of our toilet!”

*

“There are many professions where the telling of one of these jokes would severely damage or kill your career.”