Monday, June 15, 2009

How to Be a Perfect Gentleman

A book of unspeakable hilarity, all of it unintentional.

My favorite passages so far:

"There are those, no doubt, who will say that they have something better
to do than waste their time wondering why they like to stay in bed,
which they don't."

And for extra double-entendre hilarity:

"Carlyle defined the feeling when he said, 'To sit still and be pumped into is never an exhilarating process.' But pumping is different. How often have I myself, my adieus seemingly done, my hat in my hand and my feet on the threshold, taken a fresh grip, hat or no hat, on the pump-handle, and set good-natured, Christian folk distressedly wondering if I would never stop! And how often have I afterward recalled something strained and morbidly intent in their expressions, a glassiness of the staring eye and a starchiness in the smiling lip, that has made me suffer under my bed-cover and swear that next time I would depart like a sky-rocket!"


He is, of course, referring to conversation.

1 comment:

  1. This is incredible. It reminds me of the beefsteak article you linked me yesterday (Here: http://web.archive.org/web/20061211133042rn_2/www.newyorker.com/archive/content/articles/010219fr_mitchell?010219fr_mitchell) for those of you who aren't Exegesis of Squalor)

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