One-Line Book Review: The covers of this book are too far apart
Laurence Horn
laurence.horn at YALE.EDU
Sun Feb 9 02:51:15 UTC 2014
I wonder if this template eventually gives rise to the classic "first prize/second prize" that must have originated in some comic's version of a game show: first prize, a week in Cleveland (or whatever), second prize, two weeks. Or maybe it's just a case of great minds joking alike.
LH
On Feb 8, 2014, at 9:44 PM, ADSGarson O'Toole wrote:
> Great point, JL! Your message certainly provides a new perspective.
> You sent a message to the ADS list on this topic, and I replied back
> on April 22, 2013:
>
> http://listserv.linguistlist.org/cgi-bin/wa?A2=ADS-L;4041092.1304D
> http://listserv.linguistlist.org/cgi-bin/wa?A2=ADS-L;8bbc61a8.1304D
>
> Jonathan Lighter wrote:
>>
>> Elsewhere but not in YBQ:
>>
>> 1896 Ambrose Bierce in _San Francisco Examiner_ (July 26) [qtd. in Paul
>> Fatout, _Ambrose Bierce_ (Norman, Okla.: U. of Okla. P., 1951) 226] :
>>
>> I had thought there could be only two worse writers than Stephen Crane,
>> namely two Stephen Cranes.
>
> [Begin message from Garson sent in April 22, 2013]
> Ambrose Bierce used the same joke template in 1906 in "The Cynic's
> Word Book" later retitled "The Devil's Dictionary":
>
> [ref] 1906, The Cynic's Word Book by Ambrose Bierce, Entry: Clarionet,
> Quote Page 51, Doubleday, Page & Company, New York. (Google Books full
> view) [/ref]
>
> http://books.google.com/books?id=CboOAAAAIAAJ&q=clarionet+#v=snippet&
>
> [Begin excerpt]
> CLARIONET, n. An instrument of torture operated by a person with
> cotton in his ears. There are two instruments that are worse than a
> clarionet - two clarionets.
> [End excerpt]
>
> (Hat-tip "The Poetry of Stephen Crane by Daniel Hoffman who mentioned
> both quotations.)
> [End message]
>
> Garson
>
> On Sat, Feb 8, 2014 at 8:47 PM, Jonathan Lighter <wuxxmupp2000 at gmail.com> wrote:
>> ---------------------- Information from the mail header -----------------------
>> Sender: American Dialect Society <ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU>
>> Poster: Jonathan Lighter <wuxxmupp2000 at GMAIL.COM>
>> Subject: Re: One-Line Book Review: The covers of this book are too far
>> apart
>> -------------------------------------------------------------------------------
>>
>> Concerning Crane, Bierce evidently did write in July, 1896, that "I had
>> thought there could be only two worse writers than Stephen Crane, namely
>> two Stephen Cranes."
>>
>> I don't have a reference, but the statement seemed sufficiently authentic
>> at the time for me to note it for my current research.
>>
>> JL
>>
>>
>> On Sat, Feb 8, 2014 at 8:18 PM, ADSGarson O'Toole <adsgarsonotoole at gmail.com
>>> wrote:
>>
>>> ---------------------- Information from the mail header
>>> -----------------------
>>> Sender: American Dialect Society <ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU>
>>> Poster: ADSGarson O'Toole <adsgarsonotoole at GMAIL.COM>
>>> Subject: Re: One-Line Book Review: The covers of this book are too far
>>> apart
>>>
>>> -------------------------------------------------------------------------------
>>>
>>> (I've been working on too many George Bernard Shaw quotations. In the
>>> previous message the correct name "Davis" was replaced by the
>>> incorrect name "Shaw". Below is a revised message.)
>>>
>>> This message is about comical book review quotation "The covers of
>>> this book are too far apart" which is usually attributed to Ambrose
>>> Bierce. One may check the QI website for further background.
>>>
>>> Following a valuable lead from Stephen Goranson I examined a
>>> multi-volume 1963 edition of the "The Work of Stephen Crane". This
>>> edition was a reissue of an edition by Alfred A. Knopf. The
>>> introduction to volume 2 was written by Robert H. Davis and was dated
>>> December 8, 1924.
>>>
>>> So, Davis composed the introduction ten years after the disappearance
>>> of Ambrose Bierce circa 1914.
>>>
>>> Davis discussed meeting with Ambrose Bierce, and he presented a
>>> statement that he heard directly from Bierce. Davis then mentioned the
>>> "classic single-line review" credited to Bierce. The phrasing used by
>>> Davis suggested to me that Davis did not hear this review from Bierce
>>> directly. In fact, Davis may have heard about the "single-line review"
>>> years after he met with Bierce.
>>>
>>> The joke has an anonymous creator in the earliest instances I've
>>> located in 1899, and there is still no direct evidence that Ambrose
>>> Bierce spoke or wrote an instance of the joke.
>>>
>>> [ref] 1963, The Work of Stephen Crane by Stephen Crane, Edited by
>>> Wilson Follett, Volume 2, (Introduction by Robert H. Davis; dated
>>> December 8, 1924), Start Page ix, Quote Page x, Published by Russell &
>>> Russell, New York. (Reissue by Russell & Russell of Alfred A. Knopf
>>> edition) (Verified on paper in 1963 edition)[/ref]
>>>
>>> [Begin excerpt]
>>>
>>> The following week I met Ambrose Bierce and William C. Morrow, two
>>> distinguished men of letters who have since joined the shades, and
>>> spoke to them of THE RED BADGE. Both had read it. I do not recall
>>> Morrow's exact criticism except that it was reasonably laudatory.
>>> Bierce's observation remains with me:
>>>
>>> "This young man," said he, "has the power to feel. He knows nothing of
>>> war, yet he is drenched in blood. Most beginners who deal with this
>>> subject spatter themselves merely with ink."
>>>
>>> This, coming from the brilliant critic who wrote that classic
>>> single-line review, "The covers of this book are too far apart,"
>>> encouraged me in the belief that I had at least interpreted the
>>> fourteenth child of Jonathan Townley Crane, D.D.
>>>
>>> This closes the San Francisco chapter and all of it that pertains to
>>> Stephen Crane.
>>>
>>> [End excerpt]
>>>
>>> Great thanks to Stephen,
>>>
>>> Garson
>>>
>>> On Sat, Feb 8, 2014 at 8:03 PM, ADSGarson O'Toole
>>> <adsgarsonotoole at gmail.com> wrote:
>>>> This message is about a comical book review quotation: "The covers of
>>>> this book are too far apart" which is usually attributed to Ambrose
>>>> Bierce. One may check the QI website for further background.
>>>>
>>>> Following a valuable lead from Stephen Goranson I examined a
>>>> multi-volume 1963 edition of the "The Work of Stephen Crane". This
>>>> edition was a reissue of an edition by Alfred A. Knopf. The
>>>> introduction to volume 2 was written by Robert H. Davis and was dated
>>>> December 8, 1924.
>>>>
>>>> So, Davis composed the introduction ten years after the disappearance
>>>> of Ambrose Bierce circa 1914.
>>>>
>>>> Shaw discussed meeting with Ambrose Bierce, and he presented a
>>>> statement that he heard directly from Bierce. Shaw then mentioned the
>>>> "classic single-line review" credited to Bierce. The phrasing used by
>>>> Shaw suggested to me that Shaw did not hear this review from Bierce
>>>> directly. In fact, Shaw may have heard about the "single-line review"
>>>> years after he met with Bierce.
>>>>
>>>> The joke has an anonymous creator in the earliest instances I've
>>>> located in 1899, and there is still no direct evidence that Ambrose
>>>> Bierce spoke or wrote an instance of the joke.
>>>>
>>>> [ref] 1963, The Work of Stephen Crane by Stephen Crane, Edited by
>>>> Wilson Follett, Volume 2, (Introduction by Robert H. Davis; dated
>>>> December 8, 1924), Start Page ix, Quote Page x, Published by Russell &
>>>> Russell, New York. (Reissue by Russell & Russell of Alfred A. Knopf
>>>> edition) (Verified on paper in 1963 edition)[/ref]
>>>>
>>>> [Begin excerpt]
>>>> The following week I met Ambrose Bierce and William C. Morrow, two
>>>> distinguished men of letters who have since joined the shades, and
>>>> spoke to them of THE RED BADGE. Both had read it. I do not recall
>>>> Morrow's exact criticism except that it was reasonably laudatory.
>>>> Bierce's observation remains with me:
>>>>
>>>> "This young man," said he, "has the power to feel. He knows nothing of
>>>> war, yet he is drenched in blood. Most beginners who deal with this
>>>> subject spatter themselves merely with ink."
>>>>
>>>> This, coming from the brilliant critic who wrote that classic
>>>> single-line review, "The covers of this book are too far apart,"
>>>> encouraged me in the belief that I had at least interpreted the
>>>> fourteenth child of Jonathan Townley Crane, D.D.
>>>>
>>>> This closes the San Francisco chapter and all of it that pertains to
>>>> Stephen Crane.
>>>> [End excerpt]
>>>>
>>>> Great thanks to Stephen. I will update the QI entry,
>>>> Garson
>>>>
>>>>
>>>> On Fri, Jan 31, 2014 at 5:25 AM, Stephen Goranson <goranson at duke.edu>
>>> wrote:
>>>>> ---------------------- Information from the mail header
>>> -----------------------
>>>>> Sender: American Dialect Society <ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU>
>>>>> Poster: Stephen Goranson <goranson at DUKE.EDU>
>>>>> Subject: Re: One-Line Book Review: The covers of this book are too
>>> far
>>>>> apart
>>>>>
>>> -------------------------------------------------------------------------------
>>>>>
>>>>> Another attribution (in 1925) to Bierce from someone who (apparently,
>>> relying on this old note) knew Bierce:
>>>>>
>>>>>
>>> http://listserv.linguistlist.org/cgi-bin/wa?A2=ind0808D&L=ADS-L&P=R231&I=-3&d=No+Match%3BMatch%3BMatches
>>>>>
>>>>> Stephen Goranson
>>>>> http://people.duke.edu/~goranson/
>>>>> ________________________________________
>>>>> From: American Dialect Society [ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU] on behalf of
>>> ADSGarson O'Toole [adsgarsonotoole at GMAIL.COM]
>>>>> Sent: Thursday, January 30, 2014 6:59 PM
>>>>> To: ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU
>>>>> Subject: [ADS-L] One-Line Book Review: The covers of this book are too
>>> far apart
>>>>>
>>>>> The quotation in the subject line appeared in the 1929 biographical
>>>>> work titled "Bitter Bierce: A Mystery of American Letters" by C.
>>>>> Hartley Grattan. The author credited Bierce with the quip.
>>>>>
>>>>> This 1929 citation was listed in several key reference works
>>>>> including: Cassell's Humorous Quotations (2001), The Yale Book of
>>>>> Quotations (2006), and The Oxford Dictionary of American Quotations
>>>>> (2006).
>>>>>
>>>>> I've made some progress antedating this expression. A version of the
>>>>> gibe was in circulation by 1899. A linkage to Bierce was asserted by
>>>>> the prominent humorist Irvin S. Cobb in 1923. Here is a link to the QI
>>>>> entry:
>>>>>
>>>>> http://quoteinvestigator.com/2014/01/30/apart/
>>>>>
>>>>> Additional citations providing illumination would be most welcome.
>>> Thanks.
>>>>>
>>>>> Garson
>>>>>
>>>>> ------------------------------------------------------------
>>>>> The American Dialect Society - http://www.americandialect.org
>>>>>
>>>>> ------------------------------------------------------------
>>>>> The American Dialect Society - http://www.americandialect.org
>>>
>>> ------------------------------------------------------------
>>> The American Dialect Society - http://www.americandialect.org
>>>
>>
>>
>>
>> --
>> "If the truth is half as bad as I think it is, you can't handle the truth."
>>
>> ------------------------------------------------------------
>> The American Dialect Society - http://www.americandialect.org
>
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> The American Dialect Society - http://www.americandialect.org
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