How to Write Satire
Posted March 23, 2009, 18:03 ET
It is sometimes thought that satire is no longer possible, as reality has outstripped it. There is nothing left to mock. But there always is something, and nothing is easier to write than satire. Merely find a bad idea, and take it to another level. “We take Gay Pride Month very seriously indeed, here at Hillary Rodham Clinton Middle School…”
But that’s merely the satire of Christopher Buckley, unmemorable, a little trite. The best satire identifies an idea so perverse that we had buried deep into our consciousness, so as to be able to live with it. This is the satire of Joyce’s The Dead, when seen as a satire. And in truth this kind of satire is close to tragedy, for it reveals the lies we tell ourselves.
This is the satire of Le misanthrope, when we recognize ourselves as Alceste.
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