Review: Quip Factory

Quip Factory: Millions of Quips, Rips, Dingers, Zingers, and Barbs, and How You Can Create Many More by Caleb Spalding Atwood
ISBN:9781453638002
Published: November 24th 2010 by CreateSpace

Rating: 3.5

Quip Factory was very interesting and inspirational. I had many images in my head while reading through the lists and varieties of quips.

If you have no idea what a quip is, it's basically an entertaining funny thing to say that illustrates your point without saying it upfront. Example: "A woman needs a man like a kangaroo needs a pogo stick."

Quip Factory is divided up into two sections: Chapters where quip formulas and lists of words and examples are presented, and appendixes with just lists of words for you to make your own.

Quip Factory sounded intriguing and educational, and there was definitely many inspirational sections, but most of the time I felt almost like I was being talked down to, or like it was harder to understand than it really is. Atwood breaks down popular quips into "formulas" that really don't need to be broken down (example: X needs Y like a needs B). He could have said all the same things he said in about half as much space, and he gave so many examples that the examples felt like the appendix. I expected more than a bunch of unnecessary formulas and lists of words, but it was definitely useful.

All in all, Quip Factory was interesting and I will probably use it in my books and to experiment with language (and honestly, come up with some creative insults and comparisons), though I don't feel like it quite reached it's potential.

Recommendation: Anyone who likes quips, puns, or playing with language.