The Little Grey Flannel Book: Quotations on Men

Esther Fisher is a professor of English at the University of Toronto and
a former food critic for The Globe & Mail.

This tiny gem (3 x 4.5 inches in size), is another in the Pulp Press
series of books of quotations; as a companion to The Little Pink Book on
women, it collects quotations about men. The best way to comment on this
tome is to give a sampling of its contents.

The pearls of wisdom range from such “macho” declarations such as
Zane Grey’s “All boys love baseball. If they don’t they’re not
real boys” to the more realistic Liberace’s “The difference
between men and boys is the price of their toys” to Laura Sabia’s
“If men could get pregnant, abortion would be a sacrament.”

Heads of state seem to be single-mindedly chauvinist about their sex.
Here’s Ronald Reagan commenting on his adult son: “He’s all
man—we made sure of that.” Or, for earthy ambiguity about either his
sex life or politics or both, you can’t beat Lyndon B. Johnson’s
“Well, I’ve gotta take ol’ Jumbo here and give him some exercise.
I wonder who I’ll fuck tonight.” Prince Consorts are pretty
preoccupied with masculinity as well; Prince Philip said of his newborn
son, “We want him to be a man’s man.”

In contrast to these bons mots, women seem to know more about men than
men do themselves. Some of the wittiest, most trenchant remarks come
from supposedly “dumb” blondes. From Marilyn Monroe: “Men are
always ready to respect anything that bores them”; from May West:
“It’s not the men in my life that count, it’s the life in my
men” or “Give a man a free hand and it’s all over you.” And
finally, from Zsa Zsa Gabor: “A man in love is incomplete until he
marries. Then he is finished.”

Cross-indexed by author and topic, The Little Grey Flannel Book is easy
to read, browse through, or use as a reference. It offers a few pensive
moments and a good many chuckles.