QI

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.

First published: Tuesday 30th September 2008