When turning the other cheek just won't do, try fighting back with the cantankerous remarks of some of the crustiest, grouchiest, and cleverest curmudgeons of all time. Profiles of three world-class wordsmiths--Alexander Woollcott, Oscar Wilde, and Robert Benchley--plus interviews with a variety of caustic commentators make this a collection of barbed remarks second to none.
More than 1,000 outrageously irreverent quotations, anecdotes, and interviews on a vast array of subjects, from an illustrious list of world class grouches. “If you can’t say anything good about someone, sit right here by me.”—Alice Roosevelt Longworth
In Advice to Writers, Jon Winokur, author of the bestselling The Portable Curmudgeon, gathers the counsel of more than four hundred celebrated authors in a treasury on the world of writing. Here are literary lions on everything from the passive voice to promotion and publicity: James Baldwin on the practiced illusion of effortless prose, Isaac Asimov on the despotic tendencies of editors, John Cheever on the perils of drink, Ivan Turgenev on matrimony and the Muse. Here, too, are the secrets behind the sleight-of-hand practiced by artists from Aristotle to Rita Mae Brown. Sagacious, inspiring, and entertaining, Advice to Writers is an essential volume for the writer in every reader.
**Winner of the 2022 William Randolph Hearst Award for Outstanding Service in Professional Journalism** “People have forgotten how to be funny,” says Chris Vogler in his foreword to What Are You Laughing at? Luckily, experienced and award-winning humor writer Brad Schreiber is here to remind us all how it’s done. If laughter is the best medicine, be prepared to feel fit as a fiddle after perusing these pages. Brad’s clever wit and well-timed punch lines are sure to leave you grasping your sides, while his wise advice will ensure that you’re able to follow in his comedic footsteps. With more than seventy excerpts from such expert prose and screenwriters as Woody Allen, Steve Martin, and Kurt Vonnegut Jr., as well as unique writing exercises for all situations, this comprehensive tutorial will teach you how to write humor prose for any literary form, including screenwriting, story writing, theater, television, and audio/radio. Additionally, readers are given sage advice on different tactics for writing comedic fiction versus comedic nonfiction. Some of the topics discussed include: Life experience versus imagination How to use humor to develop theme/setting, character, and dialogue Rhythm and sound of words Vulgarity and bad taste How to market your humor prose in the digital market Thoroughly revised and updated, and with new information on writing short, humorous films, What Are You Laughing at? is your endless source to learning the art of comedy.
The revered actor and quintessential self-made man recalls "trying to decipher" William Wyler with Audrey Hepburn and Shirley MacLaine, breaking Doris Day's ribs, having a "heart-to-heart and eyeball-to-eyeball" with Steve McQueen, being "a card-carrying liberal--and proud of it," and much more.
From the author of The Portable Curmudgeon, a delicious, witty, irreverent A to Z guide to the tics, twitches and safety-valves that characterize our twisted, neurotic modern world. We live in an Age of Anxiety. The events of modern life have overwhelmed the average homo sapiens until getting from Point A to Point B without being overcome by neuroses is a practical impossibility. Enter: the comic safety valve. Jon Winokur's Encyclopedia Neurotica is a delightful garden of the ills that beset modern man. Entries include excerpts from both popular and arcane published works, as well as original definitions, essential terms and the occasional cutting-edge concept, such as "celebriphilia, the pathological desire to sleep with a celebrity, suffered chiefly by groupies." Some samples from Encyclopedia Neurotica: --Abyss, the: the yawning unfathomable chasm of existential terror --Acquired Situational Narcissism: a condition characterized by grandiosity, lack of empathy, rage, isolation and substance abuse; mainly afflicts celebrities, who tend to be surrounded by enablers --Denial: unconscious defense mechanism that numbs anxiety by refusing to acknowledge unpleasant realities --Manic Run: prolonged state of optimism, excitement and hyperactivity experienced as part of bipolar disorder
Somewhere between self-help and self-promotion lies self-awareness and advancement. Your Ultimate Success Plan is a book that provides surprisingly easy-to-apply business strategies in an approachable, actionable, authentic way and encourages you to find your voice and realize your potential. The characters you will meet in each chapter of this book are quite relatable—professional women and men plagued with the Cinderella complex, waiting patiently (and hopelessly) to be rescued; the insecure who subjugate their core identities to get others to like them; and the perennial complainers who merely want to vent, not solve. Do any of these characters sound familiar? If you are one yourself—or if you have to deal with one or more of them, as most of us do—you need this book. With principles based on awareness, forgiveness, strategic application, and follow-through, you can join the thousands of enlightened converts who have participated in Tamara’s workshops and seminars for more than 25 years. Your Ultimate Success Plan will teach you how to: Build your brand Com-YOU-nicateTM your worth while enhancing your self-worth Elevate the status of “You”
For those starting out in their careers—and those who wish to advance more quickly—this is a delightfully fussy guide to the hidden rules of the road in the workplace and in life. As bestselling author and social historian Charles Murray explains, at senior levels of an organization there are curmudgeons everywhere, judging your every move. Yet it is their good opinion you need to win if you hope to get ahead. Among the curmudgeon’s day-to-day tips for the workplace: • Excise the word “like” from your spoken English • Don’t suck up • Stop “reaching out” and “sharing” • Rid yourself of piercings, tattoos, and weird hair colors • Make strong language count His larger career advice includes: • What to do if you have a bad boss • Coming to grips with the difference between being nice and being good • How to write when you don’t know what to say • Being judgmental (it’s good, and you don’t have a choice anyway) And on the great topics of life, the curmudgeon urges us to leave home no matter what, get real jobs (not internships), put ourselves in scary situations, and watch Groundhog Day repeatedly (he’ll explain). Witty, wise, and pulling no punches, The Curmudgeon’s Guide to Getting Ahead is an indispensable sourcebook for living an adult life.
