If Ignorance is Bliss, Why Aren't There More Happy People?: Smart Quotes for Dumb Times »

JOHN LLOYD is the producer of the hit British comedy shows Not the Nine O’Clock News, Blackadder, and Spitting Image. He recently earned a lifetime achievement award from the British Academy of Film and Television Arts (BAFTA). JOHN MITCHINSON is a writer, and, with Lloyd, a producer for the British television show QI. They both drink at the same pub.

John Lloyd and John Mitchinson have proven themselves to be masters at digging up obscure facts, abstruse information, and amusing anecdotes and presenting them effortlessly, somewhat slyly, with either great wit or at least a little bit of tongue in cheek. Their gifts are on full display in Quote Interesting, a lively, wonderfully enjoyable anthology of hundreds of quotes you probably have never heard before, arranged thematically from A to Z. From laugh-out-loud-funny bon mots to some real headscratchers, Lloyd and Mitchinson have gathered a universe of star-studded blurbs like:

“The Beatles are dying in the wrong order.” —Victor Lewis Smith
“When you forget to eat, you know you’re alive.” —Henry James

“I think people would be alive today if there were a death penalty.” —Nancy Reagan

“You know ‘that look’ women get when they want sex? Me neither.” —Steve Martin

Library Journal

Lloyd and Mitchinson have another hit on their hands. Readers who enjoyed their trivia compendium, The Book of General Ignorance, will love this collection of quotations. Instead of baffling, fascinating, and annoyingly technical trivia, this book includes over 600 quotations organized by subject (and by subject alphabetically) and an index of quoted persons (with birth and death dates, where appropriate, and profession). Only a handful of quotes are listed in two sections, as the authors—who write that quotations are like catnip for them—have managed to select pithy, single-minded statements. The quality of organization makes this title suitable as a reference work, but relegating it from circulation would be sinful. VERDICT The content is wickedly fun and truly runs the gamut; Jack Handey and Aristotle can be found in close proximity. Highly recommended for anyone who enjoys wit and a good turn of phrase.—Audrey Snowden, Cleveland P.L.