Wit & Humor Quotationary Book Review

In late 1998, after the publication of his Random House Webster’s Quotationary, a tome of 20,000 entries arranged by category, editor Leonard Roy Frank, began thinking of another collection project. After all, he still had plenty of quotes gathered during 35 years of “reading, study, and observation.”

Frank noted a gap in the reference and humor shelves at bookstores and libraries. He saw no books of quotes arranged by author so he created the Random House Webster’s Wit & Humor Quotationary, a collection of some 6,000 quotes from such wits as Oscar Wilde, Woody Allen, Erma Bombeck, Mark Twain, Dorothy Parker, and Anonymous.

In the book’s introduction, he states that “while the many available humor quotation books arranged by category are useful as resources, to me they do not offer the sheer reading pleasure derived from perusing choice quips, bon mots and clever comments grouped together in sections by author.”

When organized in this manner, the book does become more than a reference book used only when looking for the perfect quote for a speech or article. To the discerning and thorough reader, it becomes the avenue to analyze a portion of the world view and personality of each author through his or her choice of words. It is also a porthole into the creation of humor, how the commonplace juxtaposed just so becomes clever or humorous. It’s also a great way to find out who actually said what.

One hopes while reading through these funny lines, some expressed purposely for laughs and some expressed accidentally as laughable, that some of this natural wit will rub off. Although, in some cases, the quotes are not off-the-cuff quips, but phrases, rewritten and polished so they might amuse someone or elicit the loud guffaw. The variety of the subject matter, decades covered, the authors and the source material are the delights of this book.

For those who are merely looking for quotes to fit a category, a substantial category index is also included. This book is an exceptional addition to any personal reference library as well as an excellent provider of entertainment. You might even find yourself laughing out loud over quotes from this collection, from the unlikeliest contributors. Although Wilde (with 130 attributions) and Twain (with 150) are likely suspects full of wit and humor, who would have thought Abraham Lincoln would have 54 funny lines. Full of words by Fran Leibowitz, H.L. Menken, Oscar Wilde, Oscar Levant, Don Marquis, Abraham Lincoln, Mark Twain and many, many more, the only regret about this book is its length. It could be much longer.

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