REVIEW John B r o c k m a n and Bill Norton, The W r i t e r ' s CA: Info Books, 1988, [ v i i i ] , 1 8 4 pp. $7.9S Almanac Menlo (U.S) Park, The W r i t e r ' s A l m a n a c is obviously, from the title, a loving a l l u s i o n to B e n j a m i n F r a n k l i n ' s Poor R i c h a r d ' s A l m a n a c k , that A m e r i c a n c l a s s i c of p i t h y sayings and h o m e l y wisdom. M o s t of Poor R i c h a r d ' s s a y i n g s are original, with a few old saws, w h o s e a u t h o r s are lost in time. The 1988 v e r s i o n is a b o o k of quotations, w i t h i l l u s t r a t i o n s . The q u o t a t i o n s are l i s t e d u n d e r topics, and the author, but u s u a l l y not the work, are g i v e n beneath. The list of q u o t e d great ones is impressive; those most often a p p e a r i n g are B r o o k m a n and Horton. The s e r i o u s r e a d e r and writer, will be e n o r m o u s l y f r u s t r a t e d by this work. T h e r e is a quote by Plato, but w h i c h d i s c o u r s e is it in? Whose translation? What is the c o n t e x t ? The i l l u s t r ~ t i o n s are c r e d i t e d only to a clip art source, and w h i l e one can e a s i l y i d e n t i f y H o g a r t h and T e n n i e l - - w h o are these other p e o p l e ? Is that tiny p i c t u r e of the king from A l i c e in W o n d e r l ~ n d or T h r o u g h the L o o k i n g Glass? Any s e r i o u s - m i n d e d p e r s o n can w a s t e h u n d r e d s of hours t r y i n g to find out w h e t h e r or not he d a r e use that quote, for if it js out of c o n t e x t what c r i t i c a l h o r r o r s m i g h t ensue! Info Books is p l a n n i n g to issue this w o r k as a H y p e r t e x t , and a n y o n e who w i s h e s may c o n t r i b u t e to n o n - p r i n t edition, They ~re also h o p i n g for a n o t h e r p r i n t e d edition, and feel v e r y p l e a s e d w i t h t h e m s e l v e s for h a v i n ~ p u b l i s h e d ~ work that they are c e r t a i n will do so well. Here are a few q u o t a t i o n s not i n c l u d e d in that work: of "It is a g o o d thine for an u n e d u c a t e d man to read b o o k s quotations." - W i n s t o n Churchill, M~ Earl ~ Life Oh. 9. "The Frog is justly s e n s i t i v e To e p i t h e t s like these." H i l l a i r e Belloc, "The Frog," - B~ Child's Book of Beasts. "A little L e a r n i n g is a d a n g ' r o u s Thing; D r i n k deep, or taste not the P i e r i a n Spring: T h e r e ~ h a l l o w D r a u g h t s i n t o x i c a t e the Brain, And d r i n k i n g ~ sobers us again. A l e x a n d e r Pope, An E~wa~ or, Criticism, - ii. 21S-18. "It was, o d d l y enough, a P r e s i d e n t [Lincoln] of the U n i t e d States who i n v e n t e d the w o r l d ' s besL b o o k review: 'Those who like this sort of thing will find this the sort of thing they like.'" - H i l a r ~ C o r k e [pseud. of Max B e e r b o h m ] , Listener, 28 April, 1955.

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