[.ca] The Book of Poisonous Quotes (ISBN 0809236818)

Looking for the perfect insult?:
There's a lot of material here that you won't find in, say, Bartlett's Familiar Quotations. And some of it is surprising, some of it is delightful, a lot is funny, and some of it useful for cribbing. (Take the structure of an insult aimed at x, rearrange a word or two, and aim it at y.) For example, Mark Twain is quoted on the cover as saying, "Suppose you were an idiot, and suppose you were a member of Congress, but I repeat myself." (Incidentally this gem is not in Bartlett's, at least not in the sixteenth edition, which I have.) Teachers, for example, can then say, "Suppose you were an idiot, and suppose you were an administrator, but I repeat myself." For those of you in the business world, just plug in "CEO," etc. Also not found in Bartlett's (alas there's a lot unavoidably not found in Bartlett's, but that's another review), is this on critics from Marilyn Monroe: "I've always felt those articles somehow reveal more about the writers than they do about me." Dumb blonde?--troubled, but not dumb. Compiler Colin Jarman organizes the verbal swordplay into chapters by category, beginning with "Critics and Criticism" in chapter one, followed by "The Creative Arts"...through literature, drama, film, music...religion, etc., ending with "Insults, Retorts, and Self-Criticism" in which the quoted get to insult themselves, e.g., "I'm as pure as the driven slush" -Tallulah Bankhead. There's an Index by name referencing both the speaker and the target. The quality of the insults and ironic misspeakings is very high. I read this through in one setting some years ago, compulsively, and had many a chuckle and some outright belly laughs, and then I read it again a couple of years later and laughed anew. Looking through it once again, I have to say, there was a lot I underappreciated. Bottom line: worth both the candle and the plastic.

It was different:
This book of qoutes is a very good coloection of qoutes that would not be found anywhere else. None of the quotes are very memorable though. The quotes can be used for nothing at all useful. They might be entertaining to some but I felt that they were just stupid usless random quotes. If you are a sports fan or have a favorite movie star then this might be a good book for you. They quote famous people but they arent the best known quotes. I just might have been disapointed because it wasnt what I was looking for.

I was looking for more vitriol:
There are some amusing and chuckle-able quotes in this book, but overall I was hoping for something with more "bite" to it. There are only a few quotes here with practical application, something you could throw out at a moment's notice for a retort. The self-criticism section is probably the best here, and the most memorable quotes are the old film divas' classic one-liners. The organization by subject is very handy, but overall I was fairly disappointed. Alas.

Funniest Quote Book Out There:
350 pages of great quotes, many, many of them are new to me - unlike other quote books that seem to recycle the same old boring flat quotes. This book is a breath of fresh air and is so wickedly satisfying. Many of the quotes can be used on yur friends or enemies ... great fun all round. It's a must for a gift book ...

Curmudgeon's Delight:
Editor Colin Jarman has compiled thousands of entertaining insults in "The Guinness Book of Poisonous Quotes"' 337 pages. The pithy put-downs are arranged by subject into sixteen chapters. Among the book's most entertaining chapters are those on Literature, Film, The Media, and Politics. Many chapters include gloriously mean-spirited quotes directed at particular individuals as well as venomous comments on the subject in general. "Poisonous Quotes" is an equal opportunity offender. Persons of all beliefs, tastes, and political persuasions are skewered indiscriminately. There is a very useful index in the back of the book where quotes can be located by the name of the person quoted or the person disparaged. This little volume makes a nice gift for yourself or your favorite curmudgeon.