Scorn

Scorn (full title: Scorn: A Bucketful of Discourtesy, Disparagement, Invective, Ridicule, Impudence, Contumely, Derision, Hate, Affront, Disdain, Bile, Taunts, Curses And Jibes) is a compendium issued by published Hamish Hamilton in 1994, and the nature of the contents can be deduced from this title. It was compiled by David Prosser and Simon Christmas and edited by former MP, political writer and broadcaster Matthew Parris (1949- ) and has spawned sequels such as Scorn With Added Vitriol (1995) and Scorn With Extra Bile (1998). Its iconoclastic style attracted Peel, who owned a copy and declared: "I think I have mentioned before that Scorn...never leaves our bedside. It is a compendium of the sorts of things you wish you had both the courage and the wit to say to or about people. On the back cover there is a portrait of the compiler, smiling. The smile looks a little unnatural, even slightly sinister. It is the smile of a man who would like you to believe that he is more confident than he actually is. It reminds me of early Radio One publicity shots of Tony Blackburn." The book was updated in 2018, and the latter edition was praised as a "classic of literary invective, which has never gone out of print, (and) now reflects both current and vintage retorts, ranging from politics to the arts, law, royalty and showbiz."