LEO ROSTEN'S CARNIVAL OF WIT; And Wisdom; Plus Wisecracks, Ad-Libs, Malaprops, Puns, One-Liners, Quips, Epigrams, Boo-Boos, Dazzling Ironies, and Wi

A collection of more than five thousand wisecracks, ad-libs, malapropisms, puns, and one-liners by famous personalities includes such topics as Beauty, Chastity, Nature, and Lust. By the author of The Joys of Yiddish.

This collection of more than 5000 short witticisms is a fun and satisfying assortment of gags, one-liners, puns, malapropisms, satire, definitions, descriptions, typos, and transpositions collected by writer/scholar Rosten and arranged in subject categories. With the same comic genius and fascination with language he used to capture and re-create the humor of the Jewish immigrant dialect in his celebrated novel, The Education of H*Y*M*A*N K*A*P*L*A*N (1938) and to catalog and explain the interrelationship between Yiddish and English in The Joys of Yiddish (1968), Rosten has culled these gems of wit from his life's reading. Worth the price of the book is his preface, which defines and analyzes wit and outlines and exemplifies its most common types. If you are "caught in the web of words" and thrilled by a well-turned phrase, this book should come with a warning label about its addictive qualities. As a reference work, however, it has serious shortcomings. First, there is no index; it hurts to see all this material so near and yet so unretrievable. Second, the arrangement, seemingly systematic, is really rather random (the subject categories are vague enough to make even browsing with intent frustrating). So for the circulating collection this book is a joy, but until it gets an index it won't be of much use at the reference desk. Recommended with reservations.
Paul D'Alessandro, Portland P.L., Me.
Copyright 1994 Reed Business Information, Inc.

Rosten's abecedarian roster of scintillating quotes goes from "Actors" to "Youth." Amid the categories are brief character studies of some of the most notable quotables, such as Yogi Berra, Groucho Marx, G. K. Chesterton, and Bertrand Russell, together with some of their famous "refulgent distortions," mind bogglers, slips, and verbal slam dunks. Not at all bashful, Rosten includes many of his own droll remarks . Denise Perry Donavin