The Writer's Quotation Book, a Literary Companion

by James Charlton

Book Overview

"Writers," says James Charlton in the preface to his Writer's Quotation Book, "love quotations. They love quoting someone else's work almost as much as they love quoting their own." What started as a... This description may be from another edition of this product.

• Format: Hardcover
• Language: English
• ISBN: 076071519X
• ISBN13: 9780760715192
• Release Date: June 1999
• Publisher: Sterling Publishing
• Length: 142 Pages
• Weight: 0.60 lbs.

Customer Reviews

Quotes, quotes, and more wonderful quotes!

"The Writer's Quotation Book: A Literary Companion" is a wonderful little book, which speaks the truth about books/reading and writing. The book quotes are the ones I really loved, but everything is great. Great for book lovers and writers! I recommend.

Too useful to go out of print

This little jewel of a book is one of the handiest that I have in a massive collection of volumes. I never know when I'll want to emphasize a point with a quote by someone wiser than I, and this is where to go to get it.The emphasis is on books and writing in more than 400 quotations that range from opinions to confessions by generations of writers -- most of them worthy of serious contemplation by the reader.Consider what Winston S. Churchill said about books, for example: "If you cannot read all your books, at any rate handle, or as it were, fondle them -- peer into them, let them fall open where they will, read from the first sentence that arrests the eye, set them back on the shelves with your own hands, arrange them on your own plan so that you at least know where they are. Let them be your friends; let them at any rate be your acquaintances.""The art of reading," wrote Andre Maurois, "is in great part that of acquiring a better understanding of life from one's encounter with it in a book."This is a spectacular little volume. If you don't have a copy, track one down and pay dearly for it if you must. It's worth it.

Great quotes about writers, by writers, for writers

Most quotation anthologies are ponderous tomes containing those words of wisdom we sometimes need to spice up a dull speech. This book is different. It's a great collection of brief quotes by writers about writing, directed at fellow writers -- and anyone else who reads. The illustrations are taken from old woodcuts and engravings, giving the little 142-page volume a satirically antique look, while the quotes themselves come from hundreds of famous writers, both classical and contemporary. They (the quotes, and maybe the writers, too, for all I know) range from inspiring to cynical to downright absurd, but all of them will ring familiar to anybody who writes. Some favorites:"A book is like a garden carried in the pocket" - Chinese proverb"Books are a medium because they are neither rare nor well done" -- Gore Vidal"From the moment I picked up your book until I laid it down I was convulsed with laughter. Someday I intend reading it" -- Groucho Marx, on S.J. Perleman's first book"The only reason I didn't kill myself after I read the reviews of my first book was because we have two rivers in New York and I couldn't decide which one to jump into" -- Wilfrid Sheed"The didn't want it good, they wanted it Wednesday" -- Robert Heinlein"A professional writer is an amateur who didn't quit" -- Richard Bach"All my major works have been written in prison... I would recommend prison not only to aspiring writers but to aspiring politicians, too" -- Jawaharlal Nehru"When I am dead, I hope it may be said: His sins were scarlet but his books were read" -- Hilaire BellocAnd so on. I keep this book on my desk for those frustrating moments (minutes, hours, days, weeks....) when I find myself staring blankly at my keyboard. Leafing through this book tickles my funnybone and reminds me that others before me have faced the same frustrations. That keeps me going on my own work-in-progess because, as the Bible itself says, "Of making books there is no end." (Ecclesiastes 12:12)

Inspiration for Writers

Writing is a solitary endeavor. Reading quotations from other writers is a way to get advice from your peers. This is a most inspirational book. For coverage, click on Table of Contents in the left-hand column of this page.James Charlton is an editor, publisher, compiler and the author of nearly three-dozen books. He loves writing and writers. As the author of 113 books (including revisions and foreign-language editions) and over 500 magazine articles, I highly recommend this book to writers. DanPoynter@ParaPublishing.com.

Delightfully Funny; Brutally Honest

As an 'aspiring' writer I could appreciate the wonderful humor, insight, and honestly from the various quotes regarding the writing industry. From writers' block, to publishers are demons, to how writers feel about being broke, this book is charming and a must-have for wanna be or current professional writers.