The Optimist's/Pessimist's Handbook

A companion to hope and despair

Niall Edworthy, Petra Cramsie

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Paperback

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English

Black Swan
01 June 2010

Dictionaries of quotations; Humour collections & anthologies; Gift books

The very first feel good/feel bad handbook, providing both inspiration and antidote with quotations, proverbs, statistics and diary extracts.

Are optimists just reckless dreamers? Are pessimists miserable doom-mongers or just erring on the side of caution? Is the glass half empty or half full?

Brilliantly compiled and beautifully written, this is a rich anthology of evidence from both sides of any argument. Covering everything from Beauty to Happiness, Patriotism to Walking, it is the perfect tool for squabbling families, a counterbalance for arguing couples and a mine of detail for the quarrelsome.

The Optimist on the Afterlife- My heaven will be filled with wonderful young men and dukes. (Dame Barbara Cartland) And the Pessimist- 'That's what Hell will be like, small chat to the babbling of Lethe about the good old days when we wished we were dead. (Samuel Beckett)

By: Niall Edworthy, Petra Cramsie
Imprint: Black Swan
Country of Publication: United Kingdom
Dimensions: Height: 198mm, Width: 127mm, Spine: 21mm
Weight: 231g
ISBN: 9780552776110
ISBN 10: 0552776114
Pages: 336
Publication Date: 01 June 2010
Audience: General/trade , ELT Advanced
Format: Paperback
Publisher's Status: Active

Niall Edworthy is is the author of The Curious Gardener's Almanac and eighteen previous books under a variety of guises and noms de plume, covering military history, biography, sport, general humour and gardening. He lives in West Sussex with his wife and two children. Petra Cramsie worked as an editor for puzzle magazines, then as a writer/researcher making documentaries for TV, and then as an editor at Allison and Busby. After leaving London, she studied for degrees in Human Ecology (which taught her to be pessimistic), and Philosophy (which taught her how to be, if not optimistic, then at least philosophical). She lives in Herefordshire with her family.

Reviews for The Optimist's/Pessimist's Handbook: A companion to hope and despair

A compendium of enlightening snippets ... Just looking at the quirky cover made me wonder if the book had been shelved in the Hogwarts' library ... worth the book's price for anyone tasked with running positive school assemblies. I hadn't met all the quotes before and the information was entertaining. www.thebookbag.co.uk