Spiegel explores how in one of his best known novels the 19th-century Russian author used laughter not only to flesh out characters but also to foreshadow and intensify events, highlight thematic and compositional parallels, influence the plot, and shape the novel's symbolic structure. As background he also discusses some aspects of laughter in real life and some of the theories that seek to elucidate its causes and implications. Annotation c. Book News, Inc., Portland, OR