Are You a Miserable Old Bastard?: Quips, Quotes, And Tales From The Eternally Pessimistic by Andrew John, Stephen Blake is a highly recommended collection of quotes from a wide variety of well known personalities. The quotes are organized by very general topics and the quips, putdowns, grumps, and complaints are widely diverse. You can read quotes from P. J. O'Rourke, Dorothy Parker, Michael Moore, H. L. Mencken, Fran Lebowitz, Winston Churchill, Groucho Marx, and W. C. Fields and even quotes from literary and fictional characters, like A. A. Milne's character Eeyore.

All of the quotes are wonderfully grumpy and suitably irritable for the most cantankerous among us, as well as for those who just appreciate a good testy quote about a variety of topics that can annoy the best of us in everyday life. This is a perfect book to read in short snatches or to look through for a suitably petulant quote to fit any situation. First published in 2006, a new edition is being released in 2023 by Rowman & Littlefield and my review copy was courtesy of the publisher.
The review will be published on Barnes & Noble, Edelweiss, Google Books, and Amazon.

Are you a miserable old bastard or do you know someone who is? Then this book is perfect for them! It felt like a written companion to the movie "Grumpy Old Men" which was also about miserable old bastards. LOVED it.

I was given a copy of this book for review.

A collection of sayings and short stories, some are funny. I think the book would have been better had there been a story format instead.

Well, yes, as a matter of fact, I am. Either because of that or in spite of it, I didn’t like this book as much as I expected.

It’s a new edition of a short book copyrighted in 2008 in the United Kingdom (which shows in a lot of British material), but, based on the advance copy I received, apparently has not been updated. I got that impression because of comments about the quality of television, quotes from a couple men who probably wouldn’t be included if the book were created today, and complaints about new politically correct terms which have since become politically incorrect (which is rather funny in its own right).

It’s a bit like a comedy act which only includes punch lines and makes you realize how important a sense of timing is to humor. But some of the punch lines are still funny. Such as:

“She looked as though butter wouldn’t melt in her mouth—or anywhere else.”—Elsa Lanchester

“This is not a book that should be tossed lightly aside. It should be hurled with great force.”--Dorothy Parker (This book claims the quote was about a book by Mussolini. Maybe a joke? Most of the internet claims it’s either about an Ayn Rand novel, or that Parker never said it at all.)

The quotes from historical figures are much funnier than the new material the authors produced. But at least one (other?) quote is inaccurate, and anyone who has ever read anything by Ralph Waldo Emerson will immediately know it’s wrong. Go ahead--try to imagine him using the word “whore”. I dare you.

Thanks to Rowman & Littlefield and NetGalley for the advance copy to review.

I actually reviewed this previously as one of the worst books I've ever read. I didn't find it funny at all. I don't know what I was expecting but it certainly wasn't...whatever this is.

Are You a Miserable Old Bastard? by Andrew John and Stephen Blake, I was really intrigued by this title, and then the whole book really failed for me, I think there are others who will enjoy this book. Thank you for giving me a chance with this book.