Folly's father is Ploutos (wealth) who regulates all public and private affairs of mankind (war, peace, military power, justice, assemblies, marriages, treaties, laws, art and science, humour and earnestness...).
This book is full of humour, occasionally pessimistic and sometimes a cynical diatribe against mankind. His principal targets: the Roman Catholic Church, his fellow countrymen, the Dutch, and women. Erasmus was a misogynist.
This book is still not old-fashioned and didn't loose his vitriolic style. By reading it, I still learned a lot about human foolish behaviour.
I recommend the short but impressive work by Stefan Zweig on Erasmus for an appraisal of his public and private life.

You cannot beat this edition, prepared in the early darkness of WW II, for depth, humor, and readability. An outstanding look at the most courageous Renaissance man imaginable.

This is a funny and inteligent choice. Praise of Folly may make us think much more than we might -- if that is possible -- imagine.