Old Git Wit

by Richard Benson

Presents a collection of senior sagacity and elderly erudition and shows those young whipper snappers that old is the new young.

208 pages, Hardcover

First published October 1, 2006

Reviews

[Agris Fakingsons · Rating 3 out of 5]

..ar šo vairs nebija tik interesanti, kā ar "Viss vēl tikai priekšā", kaut gan arī šeit, neapšaubāmi, bija vairāki lieliski vecuma citāti.

[Tracy Hodge · Rating 3 out of 5]

Another book from my bookshelf - this one is a book that I previously gave to my Dad as a birthday present.

A decent enough read - finished it in under 1hr - it just gives lots of quotes re getting old etc. Found some of the quotes honest and amusing - just perfect for a bit of reminiscing whilst chilling.

[Billy Forbes]

laughed from start to finish.

[Martin · Rating 4 out of 5]

Maybe this is a book which will appeal to those of more mature years; the gallows humour is certain to raise, at least, a wry smile with most older readers. It contains a wealth of pithy observations from a variety of commentators. There are some familiar ones... 'A man's only as old as the woman he feels'(Groucho Marx), 'I'm at an age when my back goes out more than I do'(Phyllis Diller), 'She may very well pass for 43 in the dusk with the light behind her'(W.S. Gilbert) and quite a few from unexpected sources - such as Winston Churchill commenting that a 'dead bird never falls from the nest' upon being informed that his flies are undone! Some quotes strike home with little pity however. One which I found particularly apposite was from the late lamented Irish comedian, Dave Allen: 'I still think of myself as I was 25 years ago. Then I look in the mirror and see an old bastard and I realise it's me.'

[John Read · Rating 1 out of 5]

Maybe I'm just a miserable, humorlous old git myself, but I'm not a fan of 'stocking filler' books like this. (Yet I always get one for Christmas and feel obliged to read the damn thing.)
Just a collection of wisecracks, silly quotes, proverbs, etc. They are forgotten about 1 nano second after reading them. Rarely funny, original, clever or interesting.
Any reasonably determined person could probably knock one of these together in a few days.
Here's a sample from a page opened at random.

"I plan on growing old much later in life, or maybe not at all."
"Few people know how to be old."
"Inside every old person is a young person wondering what the hell happened."

See what I mean...... Ho Hum.

Tellingly, there are no newspaper or magazine reviews included on the cover. No surprise there.

These books sell well and make the 'author' money, so someone must like them. Or maybe they are all given away as Christmas presents.

Not for me. Sorry.