One-Line Book Review: The covers of this book are too far apart
ADSGarson O'Toole
adsgarsonotoole at GMAIL.COM
Sun Feb 9 02:44:20 UTC 2014
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."
>
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