Lots of good tidbits in the review. I like this one:
"To me, the essence of good comedy writing is that perfectly ordinary phrases such as ‘Just fancy!’ should, by virtue of their context, achieve greater laughs than the most literate epigram."
Presumably, many more tidbits in the book. The man corresponded with Virginia Woolf, T. E. Lawrence, Ian Fleming, Laurence Olivier, Marlene Dietrich, John Osborne, Harold Pinter, and many others.
I'd get the book myself if it were available in the Kindle format. For some reason, I'm devoted to my Kindle, even though it hasn't arrived yet. We'll see if it lives up to my ideation. I remember how I felt when I bought my Rocketbook. How wonderful it was... until I decided I hated it.
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27 comments:
It's up there with Thoreau's ``Moose,'' and then ``Indians.'' Or Goethe's ``Mehr Licht.'' Or Lord Nelson's ``Kiss me Hardy.''
Einstein said something in German and the nurse didn't speak German.
Plan your last words, people, and tell others what they will be in case you're not up to it at the time.
Cockpit voice recorders favor ``Oh shit.''
All the fey comments he made can be off-putting but in the end one is left with the sense that Coward was gallant.
Rosebud.
(In response to an attending doctor who attempted to comfort him by saying, "General, I fear the angels are waiting for you)
Waiting are they? Waiting are they? Well--let 'em wait.
Besides, I want to open a furniture store.
~~ Ethan Allen, American Revolutionary general, d. 1789
"I am just sorry to leave my friends behind."
Oscar Wilde.
Codeine . . . bourbon.
~~ Tallulah Bankhead, actress, d. December 12, 1968
That was the best ice-cream soda I ever tasted.
~~ Lou Costello, comedian, d. March 3, 1959
Hillary, what are you doing with that pillow?
Bill Clinton B August 19. 1946,
d__________?
I've had a hell of a lot of fun and I've enjoyed every minute of it.
~~ Errol Flynn, actor, d. October 14, 1959
Hillary, Hillary is that you behind the canon?
Vincent Foster d July 20, 1993
Does nobody understand?
~~ James Joyce, writer, d. 1941
Trooper -
Your 2:53PM comment, you left out the apostrophe in friends.
Makes more sense now,
I knew it. I knew it. Born in a hotel room - and God damn it - died in a hotel room.
~~ Eugene O'Neill, writer, d. November 27, 1953
I love you Sarah. For all eternity, I love you.
(Spoken to his wife)
~~ James K. Polk, US President, d. 1849
Oh shit. I never should have pissed off Hillary.
Ron Brown, d April 3, 1996.
I owe much; I have nothing; the rest I leave to the poor.
~~ François Rabelais, writer, d. 1553
I've had eighteen straight whiskies, I think that's the record . . .
~~ Dylan Thomas, poet, d. 1953
Blow me god, I don't believe in you. Let the suckfest continue.
Luckyoldson d_______hopefully soon.
Curtain! Fast music! Light! Ready for the last finale! Great! The show looks good, the show looks good!
~~ Florenz Ziegfeld, showman, d. July 22, 1932
Frances and Courtney, I'll be at your altar. Please keep going Courtney, for Frances for her life will be so much happier without me. I LOVE YOU. I LOVE YOU.
Suicide note.
~~ Kurt Cobain, musician, d. April 8, 1994
Goodbye, my friend, goodbye
My love, you are in my heart.
It was preordained we should part
And be reunited by and by.
Goodbye: no handshake to endure.
Let's have no sadness -- furrowed brow.
There's nothing new in dying now
Though living is no newer.
Written in his own blood, and given to a friend the day before he hanged himself.
~~ Sergei Esenin, Russian poet, d. Dec. 28, 1925
All fled--all done, so lift me on the pyre;
The feast is over, and the lamps expire.
Suicide note.
~~ Robert E. Howard, writer, d. June 11, 1936
Well, gentlemen, you are about to see a baked Appel.
Executed in electric chair in New York.
~~ George Appel, d. 1928
How about this for a headline for tomorrow's paper? French fries.
Executed in electric chair in Oklahoma.
~~ James French, d. 1966
"And in conclusion, let me just say this...."
--Peter Sellers
Sedgwick, John (1813-1864) "Nonsense, they couldn't hit an elephant at this distance."
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