I don't appear in David Hess's little tableau, for which I'm grateful (I guess), though I am partially visible in the character he calls "Marjorie Perloff." Gudding's sense of humor is too labored for my taste. He is trying to be funny; he has a "theory" of comedy for God's sake. I'm prejudiced because I used to spar with him on the poetics list back in late 1998.