Wit & Humor Quotationary [antikvár]

INTRODUCTIONSoon after publication, in late 1998, of Random House Webster's Quotationary, I began thinking about another editing project to undertake. The Quotationary's 20,000 entries (arranged by category) had been distilled from double that number in my database, which in turn was the digitized essence of 35 years of reading, study, and observation. Having this large store of ready-to-use quotations broadened my range of options.I decided to compile Random House Webster's Wit Humor Quotationary upon realizing, after visits to the reference and humor sections of many bookstores and libraries, that missing from their shelves was a first-rate, up-to-date, wide-ranging collection of witticisms arranged by author. The many available humor quotation books arranged by category are useful as resources, but to me they do not offer the sheer reading pleasure derived from perusing choice quips, bons mots, and clever comments grouped together in sections by author. (I use the word author in the sense of "originator of the quotation.") What shines through many sections in this book is the personality of the authors, giving added humor and resonance to each entry and, synergistically, to each section as a whole.It is my hope that this book will fill a gap in the field of humor collections, and provide people with an amusing, even delightful, reading experiencethat it will serve as a history of humor through the ages, a reference tool for writers and speakers, and an inspiration for those who will be creating the humor of the twenty-first century.