Quote: It is not a book to be lightly thrown aside. It should be thrown with great force. (attrib Sid Ziff Feb 1960)

Wed Mar 27 05:27:36 UTC 2013

Dorothy Parker is usually credited with the following humorous remark
that reportedly was employed in a book review:

This is not a novel to be tossed aside lightly. It should be thrown
with great force.

A new citation I have located suggests that credit for the quip should
be switched to Sid Ziff, I think.

Background: In 2010 Fred Shapiro asked about this saying on the ADS
list and Sam Clements responded by pointing to a webpage at the Snopes
website. He and Bonnie Taylor-Blake had explored this topic and
located some great citations dated April 1960 and October 1962. Here
is a link to the ADS message and the Snopes bulletin board post:

http://listserv.linguistlist.org/cgi-bin/wa?A2=ADS-L;g%2FMlcQ;201007171927260400C
http://message.snopes.com/showpost.php?p=1013420&postcount=14

Here is the data for the new citation that ascribes a version of the
saying to Sid Ziff:

[ref] 1960 February, Reader’s Digest, Volume 76, On the Critical Side,
Quote Page 180,  The Reader’s Digest Association. (Verified on
microfilm) [/ref]

[Begin excerpt]
>From a book review: "It is not a book to be lightly thrown aside. It
should be thrown with great force."
—Sid Ziff in Los Angeles Mirror-News
[End excerpt]

Additional material on this topic is available here. Feedback welcome:
http://quoteinvestigator.com/2013/03/26/great-force/

Thanks, Garson

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