Why does Orson Welles often get credit for a famous Billy Wilder zinger? Where did Tennessee Williams get the title for
Cat on a Hot Tin Roof
? What possessed Hollywood mogul Samuel Goldwyn to describe one of his films as "bloody and thirsty"? In
Mark My Words
, you'll find much more than the pithiest and most penetrating comments of all time, you'll discover the stories behind these memorable quotations: how they originated, who really said them and why, and how they relate to other famous quotations.
In this highly entertaining and informative guide to thousands of quotations about which there is more to be said, noted British author, radio host, and television personality Nigel Rees provides detailed insights into the most misunderstood, misattributed, and generally problematic remarks of all time. Find out what Dorothy Parker was referring when she said, "There but for a typographical error is the story of my life"; whether General Sherman ever actually said, "War is hell; and who described marriage as "the deep, deep peace of a double bed after the hurly-burly of the chaise lounge."
Complete with a collection of memorable quotations on the art of quotation itself,
is the one indispensable guide to the complex worked of quotations.