Book Review: White House Wit, Wisdom and Wisecracks by Phil Dampier & Ashley Walton

 

Book: White House Wit, Wisdom and Wisecracks - The Greatest Presidential Quotes

Author: Phil Dampier & Ashley Walton

Illustrator: Richard Jolley

No. of Pages: 224

Genre: Humor, Fiction, Quotes Collection

Publisher: Barzipan Publishing

I was approached for reviewing a book earlier, SeaBEAN, and this was the second book that came from the same source. They shared a ‘press review copy’ <soft copy> of this non-fiction book which I accepted … expecting it to be just what the title said it would be – full of wit, humor and wisecracks.

So … the book has the quotes by ALL the US Presidents till date; it is a collection of their witty one-liners, historic pronouncements, personal insights and philosophical musings. This alone might have made the book somewhat boring but the authors’ made some value-add.

They gave a very brief history of the President and some key facts and peculiar things about them like tenure (term in office), party to which they belonged, their nickname and their last words. This put in the situation of the era of their rule and gave context to the quotes. It made the book a lot more interesting to read and it gave me some good insight into the President’s of US.

I enjoyed reading the book … it was a light read; I was smiling all along. Most fun was around the recent president’s since I can identify with them and the political situation. There are quotes which are seriously humorous and make you laugh and at the same time, the quotes reflect the personality of the individual.   

Sample this one by George W Bush ‘Bush Junior’ - “Our enemies are innovative and resourceful, and so are we … They never stop thinking about new ways to harm our country and our people, and neither do we.”

The cover design is comic showing the caricatures of different Presidents standing at the dais. It is nice and catchy. Another important thing is the inclusion of several comic sketches / cartoons across the book. This added to the fun of the book and the illustrator Richard Jolley has indeed done a good job.

 

Ratings on Book Review Parameters: This one is a non-fictional fact based book which is simply recording a collection of quotes by all US President’s so the usual rating parameters of style, plot, characters etc does not apply.

Overall Rating: 3 / 5