Book excerpt: On September 11, 2001, veteran comedian David Brenner was in the midst of a 48-week stand-up gig in Las Vegas. Immediately after that day, he cancelled the engagement and instructed his manager to book him on a nationwide tour. He called it the "Laughter to the People" tour, and on it he shared his humor with a grieving nation. Audience response was overwhelming. In this book, Brenner draws on highlights from his stand-up material to show how humor can give us the power to transcend personal and world problems from the unavoidable, like aging, to the uncontrollable, like war. The essays in the book cover a wide range of issues, including fear of flying, aging, marriage and divorce, pets, politics, terrorism, and religion.