yeah, the introduction and afterword of Real Literature, esp. in the Literature section, are always useful for that. :)

i love 'the importance of being earnest' too. i was surprised how much less i liked, uh, whatsitwhatsit, 'an ideal husband.' the thing is that i just LOVE farce and satire. monty python, p.g. wodehouse (jeeves & wooster), good omens (although not all terry pratchett--he's a little too silly for me most of the time).

i prefer the darker farce and satire. and i want to recommend tom stoppard's one and only novel, long out of print, really old. it's called lord malquist and mr. moon. it's totally weird, incredibly surreal, i mean, really, REALLY surreal. and excellent farce. it's brilliant. but it's hard to get a hold of. if they have it at your library, though! mine did. i should've done that at my school--can't get out of print hardbacks for as little as the missing book fine. :(