Holiday Gift Guide: The Official Dictionary of Sarcasm by James Napoli

The Official Dictionary of Sarcasm (Sterling Innovation) is perfectly described on its own first page. “You have been waiting patiently for a dictionary like this to come along. And now it is here. Not that you give a crap.”

The book pokes sarcastic fun at just about everything and everybody in a field guide format in textbook style. Here’s the entry for “Canada”:

Free health care. Low crime. Birthplace of William Shatner. Two out of three ain’t bad.

And here’s “inbox”:

A place to store things you have no intention of ever dealing with.

And I love the entry for “photograph”:

An irrefutable visual record of the fact that between the ages of eleven and fifteen you looked like a total dork.

You get the idea. No one needs The Official Dictionary of Sarcasm, but it’s certainly a book you can have some fun with and a good thing to carry around if you’re trying to look intelligent, until someone gets close enough to read the title. ◊


David Middleton is a graphic artist and like any real and true fan of Star Trek doesn’t endlessly bore his friends or colleagues with his love or knowledge of the show. Unless they ask. You’ve been warned.