Type of bind: Paperback
Dewey Decimal Number: 080
EAN num: 9780304351978
ISBN number: 0304351970
Label: Sterling
Manufacturer: Sterling
Quantity: 1
Page Count: 288
Printing Date: June 30, 2000
Publishing house: Sterling
Sale Popularity Level: 1856262
Studio: Sterling
Editor's Notes and Comments:
Product Description:
Sticks and stones may break your bones-but these zingers really hurt! This arsenal of insults features the world's all-time great poisoners, such as Oscar Wilde, Dorothy Parker, and G.B. Shaw. More surprising is Gerald Ford's barb at Ronald Reagan: 'He doesn't dye his hair; he's just prematurely orange.' Insults are arranged alphabetically by the targeted people and topics.
Amazon.com Review:
It's hard to resist a book that has for its own jacket copy the following sentence: 'Cruel, snide, rude and bitchy, the Cassell Dictionary of Insulting Quotations records the human spirit at its least spiritual.' For once, there's truth in advertising: this book is a glorious celebration of how scathingly, hilariously, and aptly mean people have been to one another through the centuries. In its pages you'll find writers skewering writers; politicians badmouthing other politicians; nations insulting other nations; and, of course, critics savaging everyone in sight. There's Georges Clemenceau on the United States: 'America is the only nation in history which, miraculously, has gone directly from barbarism to degeneration without the usual interval of civilization.' Or Robert Hughes on the artist Jeff Koons: 'The last bit of methane left in the intestine of the dead cow that is post-modernism.' It's all good, dirty fun--and great for plagiarizing the subsequent time you need witty dinner party repartee. Just be careful who you sit subsequent to....
User popularity level:
Rated by buyers -
The famous bad-mouthing the infamous - or something like that!
This book is hugely interesting, uproariously funny, outrageously vulgar in places, but true to the spirit of `tell it as it is'. After all, these ARE insulting quotations, so what do you expect?
Above all, you'll find quotations that are notable for their intelligent wit - like the book's cover, Churchill and Lady Astor...
Lady Astor: "If I were your wife, I would put poison in your coffee."
Churchill: "If I were your husband, I would drink it."
And many others - often in less direct form:- "Prince Charles is an insensitive, hypocritical oaf and Princess Diana is a selfish, empty-headed bimbo. They should never have got married in the very first place. I blame the parents." (Richard Littlejohn, British journalist).
My favourite is what one British politician said of another... "He's a shiver looking for a spine to run up."
The indexing is a little lax but otherwise, `Insulting Quotations' is a must for any cynic's bookshelf.
Rated by buyers -
More than anything else, this is a very enjoyable read. The surprisingly direct, pointed, unvarnished, and invariably insulting things said by the famous about the famous are absolutely fantastic. Credit to author Green's and publisher Cassell's courage for faithfully reproducing these quotations, despite racist, anti-Semitic, sexist, misogynistic, xenophobic, homophobic, and borderline vulgar content. But then again, these ARE insulting quotations, so what do you expect? Keep in mind that this is NOT a dictionary of curses and abuse, so these insulting quotations are notable for their intelligence, wit, and insight.
The quotations are limited almost exclusively to English (British) and American quotations. I don't remember any quotations specifically cited as having been translated. I think the book would gain depth from relevant foreign quotations.
The quotations are almost all modern, that is dating mostly from the 19th century. There are some older entries, such as from (English) King John, William Laud, Kings Richard II and II, etc. There are a few entries from antiquity (Plato, Aristophenes, St. John Chrysostom, etc.), but not as many as I would have expected. Although gone for a couple of thousand years, I am sure the ancient Romans and Greeks had plenty of unpleasant things to say about one another and other subjects which would still be relevant and amusing today.
Regarding this book as a reference, it could be slightly better organized. There is no table of contents, but the index is extensive, listing quotation sources/authors as well as applicable subject areas. It is well cross-referenced, with the primary entries being highlighted in the index in bold. Some additional work, to include listings for source descriptions and the content of quotes would perfect the index. Example: Oscar Wilde is credited in a quote as an "Irish author, playwright, and wit" but there is no listing for this particular quote under "Irish," "playwright," or "wit."
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