In fairness to K&R, they are at pains to say that C is not a high level language.

In the introduction of The C Programming Language they say 'C is a relatively "low level" language. This characterisation is not pejorative; it simply means that C deals with the same sort of objects that most computers do, namely, characters, numbers and addresses.'

Indeed, "middle level language" would be a fair description of C. It is perhaps unreasonable expectations of developers that make C seem something of a joke.