The Portable Curmudgeon (Plume) [Paperback]

Jon Winokur (Editor)

Book Description

Release date: October 1, 1992 | Series: Plume

The world's greatest cynics, critics, and grouches--from H. L. Mencken to Groucho Marx--use their wit to cut down every subject under the sun in a compendium of quips, barbs, profiles, and interviews. Reprint. 75,000 first printing. $50,000 ad/promo.

Editorial Reviews

About the Author

Jon Winokur was the originator of the Curmudgeon franchise, which includes The Portable Curmudgeon, The Portable Curmudgeon Redux, and A Curmudgeon’s Garden of Love. He is also the editor responsible for Zen to Go, Mondo Canine, and True Confessions. He lives in Pacific Palisades, California. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

Product Details

• Paperback: 320 pages
• Publisher: Plume (October 1, 1992)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0452266688
• ISBN-13: 978-0452266681
• Product Dimensions: 6.2 x 5.5 x 0.9 inches
• Shipping Weight: 9.6 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.5 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (17 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #134,316 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
  • #86 in Books > Humor & Entertainment > Humor > Jokes & Riddles
  • #100 in Books > Education & Reference > Quotations

More About the Author

Jon Winokur is the author of two dozen nonfiction books, including The Portable Curmudgeon (NAL, 1987) and its four sequels; Zen to Go (NAL, 1988 and Sasquatch, 2005); Advice to Writers (Pantheon, 1999); The Big Book of Irony (St. Martin's, 2007) and the critically acclaimed New York Times National Bestseller The Garner Files: A Memoir, co-authored with James Garner (Simon & Schuster, 2011). Winokur maintains the popular AdviceToWriters.com and @AdviceToWriters Twitter feed. He lives in Los Angeles.

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

46 of 49 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars Just Walk Beside Me and Be My Friend May 7, 2001

By M. Allen Greenbaum HALL OF FAMETOP 1000 REVIEWERVINE™ VOICE

Format:Paperback

What is so admirable about a curmudgeon? I suppose that one answer is to ask what isn't so admirable about non-curmudgeons: People whose advise may reassure them more than you. After all, don't worry, be happy.

Sometimes just acknowledging the cranky, bilious soul is more effective than drowning it in bland sweetisms. This book recognizes your (or someone else's) bad self, and implicitly encourages you to go with it. Perhaps it's the mix that makes us more human.

This very funny collection of sarcastic, witty, cynical, caustic, and sometimes just downright... quotes will "speak" to you like the blues. Quotes are arranged alphabetically by topic, so that you can look up "G' for gratitude, and plagiarize Rochefoucauld: "Gratitude is merely the secret hope of further favors." Cynical--of course--but perhaps containing a grain of wisdom. This topical organization doesn't work that well; the categories are too fine grained (who would think of "dinner theatre?").

The best feature are the multi-page sections devoted to one of the masters: W.C. Fields, Oscar Wilde, George S. Kaufman, Dorothy Parker, Quentin Crisp, Oscar Levant, and others. These sometimes take the form of interviews, biographies, and/or several pages of quotes. However, sprinkled liberally throughout its 299 pages are gems ("If you can't say anything good about someone, sit right here by me." -- Alice Roosevelt Longworth) by such notables as Marx (Groucho), Mencken, Bierce, and Twain and contemporaries such as Vidal, Woody Allen, and Rita Mae Brown.

Oh--in case you were wondering--it was Paul Fussell who said the following about dinner theatre:"......a way of positively guaranteeing that both food and theatre will be amateur and mediocre, which means unthreatening and therefore desirable."

To its credit, the book stays away from most sexist and all racist "jokes," it doesn't confuse humor with stupid attack. Still, you may need a thick skin for some of the acidity here. Recommended for its humor and eclecticism. Read more ›

23 of 25 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars Great little book, tons of laughs per page December 17, 2003

By Keith Tokash

Format:Paperback

I'm a little young to know many of the people who are quoted in this book, but the hilarity of the quotes made me look up and start reading authors like George Shaw and Oscar Wilde. Those two names should give you an indication of the type of quotes you'll be reading in this little gem. Most are wry, a bit sarcastic, pessimistic and critical.

I have no idea what book the previous reviewer was reading when he talked about the author's interpretations of the quotes. I've had this book for years and went thru it tons of times; there are no interpretations. It is a bunch of quotes on topics arranged alphabetically with some selected biographies mixed in. It actually reads quite nicely.

Buy this book unless you agree with Oscar Levant..."I have given up reading books; I find it takes my mind off myself". (pg 34)

18 of 19 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars A must for everyone who appreciates good one-liners! May 18, 2000

By K. L Sadler VINE™ VOICE

Format:Paperback

I've had this book since they first printed it. It is definitely one of my favorite all time books. I sometimes have to go back like once a year and read it all over again. I drove my husband nuts with it, because he isn't as much of a reader as I am and so I would start reading some of the quotes from it. Since he is a humorist himself he enjoyed the smart alecky comments that many of these classical curmudgeons either wrote or said, and still managed to get away with it. What is so astounding is that many of the humorous sayings still make sense today, out of context. Winokur did some decent research on these people and provided some information into why these people had such acid tongues. But he doesn't overdo it, but rather leaves the quotations to speak for themselves. A good late night giggler of a book! Karen L. Sadler. Science Education, University of Pittsburgh, [e-mail]

10 of 10 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars Love it February 24, 1998

By [e-mail]

Format:Paperback

The Portable Curmudgeon collects an outrageous number of quotes, mostly from people who you have heard about. Some quotes are sidesplitting, and most of them sum up a piece of life in a wonderfully sarcastic fashion. Personally, I could have done without the "subject" headings; the quotes frequently don't address the subject very well. For my taste, a listing by author would have been better.

12 of 13 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars Anyone who loves language used well will enjoy this book. July 21, 2003

By Lucy Lee

Format:Paperback

A collection of quotes from a smorgasbord of irascible writers, critics, philosophers, and celebrities, this book is organized alphabetically, inviting you to thumb to a topic that rankles, finding just the right words (albeit someone else's) to express your cynicism, contempt, or outrage.

At a time when public discourse seems largely derived from the banalities of reality TV, it's reassuring to have at hand hundreds of sharp and sensible observations from curmudgeons, both classic and contemporary. And Jon Winokur's catalogue of curmudgeons also reminds us that the best curmudgeonly commentary is purposeful: its aim is to puncture pretense, to expose hypocrisy. Winokur provides illuminating profiles of some of the "greats" -- including two of my favorites, H.L. Mencken and Dorothy Parker -- letting us see the context that helped create their curmudgeonliness. The book is also sprinkled with brief but revealing interviews with successor curmudgeons, like John Simon and Calvin Trillin.

In teaching writing, I've found the quotes collected here invaluable for introducing students to such alien concepts as wit, irony, and the artful use of metaphor.

If you haven't yet become acquainted with this classic volume -- and with the eloquently testy people you meet on every page -- you're in for a treat.