Tobit: A comedy in error?

In the recent effusion of criticism devoted to the Book of Tobit, the idea that the work is intentionally and unabashedly comic is fast emerging as part of a new critical orthodoxy. Cousland argues that the book is not, in essence, a comical or humorous narrative. Tobit is not portrayed as a mendacious or arrogant prig, nor is his commitment to tribe and family excessive. The novella does, however, have affinities with comedy because both describe a kosmos that is far from orderly.