Advanced Banter: The QI Book of Quotations, known as If Ignorance Is Bliss, Why Aren't There More Happy People? in the United States, is the third title in a series of books based on the intellectual British

United Kingdom

The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...

 panel game

Panel game

A panel game or panel show is a radio or television game show in which a panel of celebrities participates. Panelists may compete with each other, such as on The News Quiz; facilitate play by guest contestants, such as on Match Game/Blankety Blank; or do both, such as on Wait Wait.....

 QI

QI

QI is a British comedy panel game television quiz show created and co-produced by John Lloyd, hosted by Stephen Fry, and featuring permanent panellist Alan Davies. Most of the questions are extremely obscure, making it unlikely that the correct answer will be given...

, written by series-creator John Lloyd

John Lloyd (writer)

John Hardress Wilfred Lloyd CBE is a British comedy writer and television producer. He is the great nephew of John Hardress Lloyd.-Early life and career:...

 and head-researcher John Mitchinson

John Mitchinson

For the English tenor, see John Mitchinson .For the Bishop, see John Mitchinson .John Mitchinson is the head of research for the British television panel game QI, and is also the managing director of Quite Interesting Limited. He is co-writer of the QI series of books with the show's creator John...

. It is a book of "quite interesting" quotations.

Publication history

Advanced Banter was first published by Faber and Faber

Faber and Faber

Faber and Faber Limited, often abbreviated to Faber, is an independent publishing house in the UK, notable in particular for publishing a great deal of poetry and for its former editor T. S. Eliot. Faber has a rich tradition of publishing a wide range of fiction, non fiction, drama, film and music...

 in hardback on 1 October 2008. A paperback version of Advanced Banter was published on 5 November 2009. The book was released in the United States

United States

The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...

 under the title If Ignorance Is Bliss, Why Aren't There More Happy People? on 4 August 2009.

Structure

Of the previous QI books, the structure is akin to the second book, The Book of Animal Ignorance

The Book of Animal Ignorance

The Book of Animal Ignorance is the second title in a series of books based on the intellectual British panel game QI, written by series-creator John Lloyd and head-researcher John Mitchinson...

, which is an encyclopaedic listing of 100 animals, compared to the first book, The Book of General Ignorance

The Book of General Ignorance

The Book of General Ignorance is the first in a series of books based on the final round in the intellectual British panel game QI, written by series-creator John Lloyd and head-researcher John Mitchinson, to help spread the QI philosophy of curiosity to the reading public...

, which was written in a question and answer format. Advanced Banter contains a series of quotes which are divided into over 400 separate topics, such as "Acting", "Action" and "Adventure", which are listed alphabetically. However, there are no topics under the letter "X". As with the two previous books, there are also contributions by two television stars of QI: host Stephen Fry

Stephen Fry

Stephen John Fry is an English actor, screenwriter, author, playwright, journalist, poet, comedian, television presenter and film director, and a director of Norwich City Football Club. He first came to attention in the 1981 Cambridge Footlights Revue presentation "The Cellar Tapes", which also...

 and panellist Alan Davies

Alan Davies

Alan Davies is an English comedian, writer and actor best known for starring in the TV mystery series Jonathan Creek and as the permanent panellist on the TV panel show QI.- Early life :...

. Fry writes an introduction entitled "Prologue", while Davies writes a section called "Proverb", which contains a proverb

Proverb

A proverb is a simple and concrete saying popularly known and repeated, which expresses a truth, based on common sense or the practical experience of humanity. They are often metaphorical. A proverb that describes a basic rule of conduct may also be known as a maxim...

 which he himself has written: "A small pie is soon eaten."

Reception

Boyd Tonkin in The Independent

The Independent

The Independent is a British national morning newspaper published in London by Independent Print Limited, owned by Alexander Lebedev since 2010. It is nicknamed the Indy, while the Sunday edition, The Independent on Sunday, is the Sindy. Launched in 1986, it is one of the youngest UK national daily...

wrote of Lloyd and Mitchinson: "They prove in spades that the distinction between reference and entertainment has collapsed, with no exact sources given and a preface that styles the book as a 'manifesto' for pithy wit rather than a monument of scholarship. For all that, Lloyd and Mitchinson – the Two Horsemen of the Apocryphal, maybe – manage on every page an Oxford- and Chambers-beating ratio of gems to duds when it comes to imperishable one-liners. Quotation of the year for 2008? Thomas Jefferson on high finance: 'I believe that banking institutions are more dangerous to our liberties than standing armies.' Give that man an overdraft."

External links

• "Quote Interesting", an article from the Daily Telegraph written by Stephen Fry, containing quotes in the book.