One-Line Book Review: The covers of this book are too far apart

Sun Feb 9 01:47:24 UTC 2014

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