In The Satirist: His Temperament, Motivation, and Influence, Leonard Feinberg offers one of the most incisive and comprehensive studies ever written on the psychology and art of satire. Blending literary criticism with social analysis, Feinberg explores what drives the satirist — that unique blend of moral outrage, wit, and imaginative fury that turns laughter into a weapon and ridicule into reform. Moving effortlessly from Aristophanes to Swift, Voltaire, Twain, and Orwell, he examines satire as both an artistic impulse and a social necessity: the conscience of civilization disguised in humor.
Feinberg's approach is as engaging as it is erudite. He probes the temperament of the satirist — the balance between compassion and contempt, reason and passion — while tracing how satire adapts across history to challenge hypocrisy, power, and folly. His writing captures the paradox of the satirist's role: both insider and outsider, moralist and entertainer, cynic and idealist.
Far more than a survey of famous works, The Satirist is a study of the human need to criticize through laughter, to seek justice through irony. Feinberg illuminates satire as an act of love as well as rebellion — a way of healing society by exposing its wounds. First published in 1963, this landmark study remains indispensable for students of literature, journalism, and social commentary, as fresh and illuminating today as when it first appeared.