Never Let a Fool Kiss You or a Kiss Fool You: Chiasmus and a World of Quotations That Say What They Mean and Mean What They Say

What do Mae West, John F. Kennedy, Victor Hugo, and H. L. Mencken have in common? They all indulged in chiasmus-a literary device in which word order is reversed to hilarious or poignant effect. When Mae West said, "It's not the men in my life, it's the life in my men," she was using chiasmus; when John F. Kennedy said, "Ask not what your country can do for you, ask what you can do for your country," he was doing the same. Dr. Mardy Grothe has compiled hundreds of examples of chiasmus in this whimsically illustrated collection, bringing this witty and thought-provoking device out of obscurity and into the public imagination.

Author: Mardy Grothe
Publisher: Penguin Books
Published: 02/26/2002
Pages: 144
Binding Type: Paperback
Weight: 0.26lbs
Size: 7.72h x 5.46w x 0.40d
ISBN: 9780142000571

About the Author
Mardy Grothe, Ph.D., is a psychologist, marriage counselor, and management consultant. Coauthor of three business books, he has been extensively interviewed on radio and television, on topics from problem bosses to the art of the insult. He lives in Boston, Massachusetts.