Product Description

Have you ever wondered why most books of quotations are stuffed full of rather pedestrian quotes by people you've never heard of? It's a shame because a really good quotation book, one which gathered the truest and funniest insights of the best minds, and organised them into 250 subjects, from ambition to worry, (or from artichokes to woodpeckers), a book which offered you a useful take on almost every situation life throws at you (from the death of your child's hamster to the unified theory of everything), a sourcebook of wise one-loners, of knock-out jokes, of drole asides and heartfelt statements of truth and beauty, a practical handbook of interestingness , well, that would be worth having. And, guess what? Those thoughtful gentlemen at QI have come up with one. Five years of learning how to avoid the dull stuff have left the QI team in a uniquely good position to deliver this elusive holy grail: the big, useful, funny and really very good book of quotations.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #869 in Books
• Published on: 2008-10-02
• Original language: English
• Binding: Hardcover
• 448 pages

From the Author
Quote Interesting?

By John Lloyd & John Mitchinson

Advancer Banter may seem like a departure from previous QI books, but in fact it's based on exactly the same principles that underlie both the books and the TV show - that anything is interesting if looked at closely enough, for long enough or from the right angle.

Most books of quotations aren't very interesting. They repeat what is already in other books of the same type and they include quotations because they are `important' or `famous'. Also, like most books these days, they tend to be written in a tearing hurry. This book took ten years to compile.

At QI, we love quotations. If you listen carefully, you'll see that we use them on the TV show all the time. Good quotes are the best bits of the best minds, the permanent record of the funniest, truest and most memorable things anyone has ever said. Over the past decade, we've amassed a huge database of them. Advanced Banter is an edited, annotated collection of our favourites - about 4,000 quotes from 1,000 authors and covering 400 subjects.

QI is more than just a programme: it's an attempt to search out (and share) interestingness in all its forms. Our long-term plan - and it's one reason why we are working our way through the alphabet - is one day to produce the Encyclopedia Eccentrica, an authoritative reference tome with no dull bits. So, Advanced Banter is QI's first reference book. To us, finding out something interesting about lettuce or Greenland is exactly the same as uncovering a brilliant quotation about artichokes or greed. You have to bulldoze through a lot of desert to turn up one diamond.

As for how you use the book, all we'll say is that you can't have a conversation on your own. Banter is not a solitary activity. Quotations are ready-to-wear, high-class banter and come in handy all the time: best man's speeches, client presentations, school essays, family dinners, nights in the pub, bar mitzvahs, funerals, first dates...

Spice up your small talk instantly.

Here are some we both love:

Never put anything on paper, my boy, and never trust a man with a small black moustache.
PG WODEHOUSE

I don't think I'll get married again. I'll just find a woman I don't like and give her a house.
LEWIS GRIZZARD

To get something done, a committee should consist of no more than three people, two of whom are absent.
ROBERT COPELAND

The most difficult book I have ever read was a manual on the use of iron mangles by A.J. Thompson.
SPIKE MILLIGAN

Erotica is using a feather, pornography is using the whole chicken.
ISABEL ALLENDE

The question actors most often get asked is how they can bear saying the same things over and over again, night after night, but God knows the answer to that is, don't we all anyway? Might as well get paid for it...
RICHARD BRINSLEY SHERIDAN

I only have two acting styles: with and without a horse.
ROBERT MITCHUM

People who say they sleep like a baby usually don't have one.
LEO J BURKE

A man can sleep around, but if a woman makes 19 or 20 mistakes she's a tramp.
JOAN RIVERS

The trouble with eating Italian food is that 5 or 6 days later you're hungry again.
GEORGE MILLER

What would this country be, without this great land of ours?
RONALD REAGAN

You can pretend to be serious; you can't pretend to be witty.
SACHA GUITRY

All anybody needs to know about prizes is that Mozart never won one.
HENRY MITCHELL

Never raise your hand to your children - it leaves your mid-section unprotected.
ROBERT ORBEN

Sometimes I think we're alone. Sometimes I think we're not. In either case, the thought is staggering.
R BUCKMINSTER FULLER

We tell ourselves that God is dead, when what we mean is God is Dad, and we wish him dead.
AN WILSON

One may see the small value God has for riches by the people He gives them to.
ALEXANDER POPE

A man's got to believe in something. I believe I'll have another drink.
WC FIELDS

We are born. We eat sweet potatoes. Then we die
EASTER ISLAND PROVERB

About the Author
John Lloyd and John Mitchinson

Customer Reviews

Great reference and casual reading too
Normally one to stick with "stores" or novels such as Sedaris and his "Me Talk Pretty" or the funny books "Barring Some Unforeseen Accident" or "Stephen Fry in America," I found this great and hysterical book of quotations quite by accident. Favorites include:

People say they sleep like a baby until they have one.

All anybody needs to know about prizes is that Mozart never won one.

And, with apologies to America, this from Ronald Reagan (you might have thought George Bush) "What would this country be without this great land of ours?"

And for those of you who remember some great quotes but can't remember who or where they came from , this is invaluable. Lest you think this is strictly "bathroom" reading, let me assure you, it is not. Neither is it something you're going to want to sit down with for hours, but it is a great reference book, great fun, and you'll be amazed at who said what.

Just as good as the TV show...
I absolutely love this book. I have hundreds of quotation books, but they almost all lack the editorial style of Messrs Lloyd and Mitchinson. The big difference is that quotation books are normally only really reference books, this one flows so that you find yourself absorbed and taken along by it.

Other reviewers suggest it's nothing to do with the TV show QI. I don't agree. John Lloyd and John Mitchinson dreamed up and produce the QI TV show, and you can tell the humour and approach is from the same place. The great thing about the TV show is nothing is off limits. If it is interesting and it is funny, it is in. From Greek philosophy to the profane and odd, anything goes. The same applies to this excellent book, and that, along with the Johns' comedy and editorial talent is why this is different from the others.

And I quote...
Ever stumbled a cross a quote or saying that rang so true, you've decided to write it down and tuck in a pocket for future reference? Well, this book's full of them.
Quotes are powerful things. They can make us happy, sad, laugh, cry, can comfort us, annoy us...the list goes on. As such, this book is a rollercoaster of opinions and witticisms, some of which are infamous, some of which are lesser known.
It's difficult to review such a book because...well...it's a bit of a nothingness. It is, quite simply, a collection of quotes from famous people, A-Z by subject. That's it. The overall product feels rushed, too - on my first thumb through, I noticed 3 spelling errors! - and I don't appreciate having the QI brand slapped on it. A foreword by Fry it may have, but it has very little to do with the show.
That said, is does what it's meant to do, and it does it well - it's a big volume, the kind that warrants dipping into, despite perhaps not seeming to be great value at first, I can imagine this book lasting years, always worth opening up to find a quote to inspire (or infuriate) you.