Most Popular Books by Jon Winokur

Our modern Age of Anxiety threatens to overwhelm us all with angst, ambivalence, and dread. Most of us manage to cope, but not without displaying some pretty bizarre behavior. Enter Encyclopedia Neurotica, an irreverent A to Z guide to the tics, twitches, and safety-valve nuttiness of modern life. Learn about such fascinating foibles as retail therapy, "shopping as a means of comfort, relaxation, or mood elevation," or cell yell, "loud talking on cell phones in public places by people with a neurotic need to invade their own privacy." Find out whether you suffer from cyberchondria, "hypochondria resulting from seeing one''s symptoms on a medical Web site," or pronoia, "the irrational belief that people like you." From a master of witty compilations, this wry catalog of mishegoss, containing hundreds of illustrative quotations from the famous and the wise, may convince you to lie back and enjoy your neuroses. Or congratulate yourself on not being quite as neurotic as the next guy.

The revered actor and quintessential self-made man recalls "trying to decipher" William Wyler with Audrey Hepburn and Shirley MacLaine, breaking Doris Day''s ribs, having a "heart-to-heart and eyeball-to-eyeball" with Steve McQueen, being "a card-carrying liberal--and proud of it," and much more.

Jon Winokur defines and classifies irony and contrasts it with coincidence and cynicism, and other oft-confused concepts that many think are ironic. He looks at the different forms irony can take, from an irony deficiency to visual irony to an understatement, using photographs and relate-able examples from pop culture. * "Irony in Action" looks at irony in language, both verbal and visual, while "Bastions of Irony" and "Masters of Irony" look at institutions and individuals steeped in irony, though not always intentionally. PLUS: * The Annals of Irony looks at irony, and its lack thereof, throughout history. A delight for anyone with a smart, dark sense of humor.

In Advice to Writers, Jon Winokur, author of the bestselling The Portable Curmudgeon, gathers the counsel of more than four hundred celebrated authors in a treasury on the world of writing. Here are literary lions on everything from the passive voice to promotion and publicity: James Baldwin on the practiced illusion of effortless prose, Isaac Asimov on the despotic tendencies of editors, John Cheever on the perils of drink, Ivan Turgenev on matrimony and the Muse. Here, too, are the secrets behind the sleight-of-hand practiced by artists from Aristotle to Rita Mae Brown. Sagacious, inspiring, and entertaining, Advice to Writers is an essential volume for the writer in every reader.

On the theory that an account of a pleasant journey is best not thrust upon friends and strangers, that a disaster makes for a more entertaining story, here is a gathering of quotes, commentary, and anecdotes about the travails of travel, the downright strangeness of foreign places, and rueful encounters on the road. Abetted by a parade of well-known curmudgeons, Jon Winokur offers a thousand reasons not to go there. The Traveling Curmudgeon proves that travel and all things related to going from here to there -- destinations, the locals, the tourists, the food, the accommodations, and, oh my god, the souvenirs we drag home -- are all grist for a very entertaining mill.

A scandalous, sentimental, no-holds-barred, New York Times bestselling memoir from one of Hollywood’s most legendary stars. Burt Reynolds was a Hollywood leading man known for his legendary performances, sex symbol status, and infamous Hollywood romances. In his decades of stardom, Reynolds saw it all. But Enough About Me will, in his words, “call out the assholes,” try to make amends for “being the asshole myself on too many occasions,” and pay homage to the superstars and ordinary heroes he came to love and respect. Beginning with Reynolds’s adolescence as a notable football player in South Florida and the devastating car accident that ended his sports career and helped steer him toward acting, But Enough About Me then chronicles Reynolds’s meteoric rise to fame. From Oscar nominations, to the spread in Cosmopolitan magazine, to the financial decisions that took him from rich to poor and back again, Reynolds shares the wisdom that came from his many highs and lows. He also opens up about his romances and breakups with some of Hollywood’s leading women, including the “two loves of his life,” Dinah Shore and Sally Field, and his turbulent relationship with Loni Anderson, to whom he was forced to pay record-setting amounts of alimony and child support after the couple divorced. Through it all, Reynolds reflects on his personal pitfalls and recoveries and focuses on his legacy as a father and acting teacher.

Here at last is a guide to winning at golf that tells you how to dominate your opponents – not by out-playing them, but by out-thinking them. Golf is a complex and demanding game, so fickle and perverse, that even its masters never truly master it. But, Jon Winokur assures us in this entertaining and eminently practical manual, that if you can’t play golf consistently well, you can at least win consistently. With tongue planted firmly in cheek, Winokur provides various tried and true gamesmanship techniques with which to gain the advantage, from the most subtle psychological warfare to the carefully stifled sneeze. Filled with wry humour, peppered with tips, quotes, and anecdotes from golf’s greats, and illustrated throughout, this book is indispensable for anyone whose priority is to win ... at whatever cost!

The legendary film actor and Hollywood superstar Burt Reynolds recall the people who shaped his life and career, for the better or for worse. Recalling a life career spanning over 50 glorious years, Burt gives special attention to the two great loves of his life, Dinah Shore and Sally Field, his son Quinton as well as to the countless people who got in his way on his journey to Hollywood domination. With chapters on his early childhood, how he discovered acting, played poker, with Frank Sinatra, received directing advice from Orson Welles, his golden years in Hollywood, his comeback in the late 1990''s, and how his life and art led him to find the Burt Reynolds Institute for Film and Theatre

C''est magnifique! Learn the language of amour, fashion, food and diplomacy in this delightful guide to the French terms that we all use but may not understand. This reference explores the French expressions, maxims, and literary allusions that grace English. With his customary finesse, Portable Curmudgeon author Jon Winokur offers definitions and often brief etymological notes and illustrative quotations.

From stately chauffeured poodles to happy, wind-blown mutts in pick-ups, this charming book offers a delightful compendium of photos and quotes which celebrate the dog''s longstanding love affair with the automobile. Contributors include James Herriot, Merrill Markoe, Dave Barry, Ann Beattie, and E. B. White. 60 photos.

This book, like life, is brief. It is a thinking person''s condolence card; a speaker''s and writer''s reference on a subject that sometimes stymies, sometimes inspires the most loquacious; and a counterpoint to nearly every other book about death. In Passing samples a wide range of emotions from the witty to the grim. Some of the quotes, such as Dorothy Parker''s sarcastic response to the death of Calvin Coolidge ("How could they tell?"), are justly famous, while others -- Philip Larkin''s world-weary "Death is no different whined at than withstood" -- are lesser-known gems. For some, the end inspires heady poetry, witness Rita Mae Brown''s "The human animal dances wildest on the edge of the grave." H. L. Mencken showed grudging admiration when he said, "Of all escape mechanisms, death is the most efficient." This book offers perspective on the literally life-changing event that few welcome but all must endure.

Jon Winokur lets everyone from Prince Charles to G. Gordon Liddy speak out on their favorite subject: moi. From shameless preening about their immortal accomplishments to torrid confessions about their love affairs, they hold forth with an abandon that will satisfy even the most jaded tabloid addict. Includes: William F. Buckley, Tom Selleck, Julia Child, Stephen King, John Updike, Jackie Cooper, Madonna, Richard Nixon, Sean Connery, Paul McCartney, & many more. Will gratify your appetite for outrageously naked truths about the lives of our most reviled & beloved popular icons. Illustrated.