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Finally.
A present for the person who has everything and likes nothing.
The
Big Curmudgeon, as it promises, is a stocky tome of quotes
from, as editor John Winokur puts it, "not entirely unlikable
grouch[es]." In his introduction, Winokur paints a portrait
of the curmudgeon as a type of maligned do-gooder. Sure, they
are generally gloomy and dire, but they are doing it for the
greater good. Their overwhelming negativity is intended to
point out the flaws of society in order to protect themselves
from its hypocrisy, maudlinism, and pretense. To protect their
sanity, he claims, curmudgeons use the weapons made available
to them: irony, satire, sarcasm, ridicule, and wit.
Obviously,
the book is full of witty and entertaining barbs on nearly
every topic (the book is organized alphabetically by the topics
which it then rips apart). A collection of the biting quotes
from the likes of Mark Twain, Oscar Wilde, Truman Capote,
Dorothy Parker, and Ambrose Bierce makes for humorous reading,
and it will certainly allow readers to beef up their online
profiles. The positive aspects of a book like this are clear.
Though, perhaps the negative aspects are also equally clear.
This
isn't really a book that is read from cover to cover. This
is a book that owners leave on a visible shelf so a friend
can flip through it while they are printing up Google Maps
directions to the concert they're attending that night. Likewise,
not everyone is going to appreciate a book as overwhelmingly
"better-than" as this one. Flipping through nearly 700 pages
of people tearing down people and things they think are inferior
begins to wear on the brain after a while, no matter how charming
and witty the delivery.
However,
John Winokur does an excellent job of cataloging the catty
comments of people he truly seems to idolize. Additionally,
he attempts to keep the book from becoming too redundant by
interspersing, among the quotes and topics, sections with
interviews and features on some of his favorite cantankerous
codgers. Winokur makes it easy to become an expert on all
things curmudgeon-y and crabby, too.
One of
the more healthily-covered topics is, of course, criticism
and critics. To review this book feels as if one is playing
into a trap of some sort. There are some choice examples of
the insults reviewers sets themselves up to receive. "A critic
is a legless man who teaches running," uttered Channing Pollock.
Samuel Johnson is claimed to have said, "Criticism is the
study by which men grow important and formidable at very small
expense." Though Brendan Behan probably holds the topper:
"Critics are like eunuchs in a harem: they know how it's done,
they've seen it done every day, but they're unable to do it
themselves." Oh yeah, Behan? You're a drunk. (Zing!)
As mentioned,
this book could feasibly be an excellent gift for the grump
in your life, especially one that values a clever turn of
phrase or a thoughtfully worded insult. But bear in the mind,
gift-givers, that if your curmudgeon friend doesn't like anything
else, you're probably going to have to pray that this book
somehow manages to escape their ire.
(June,
2007)
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