--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: There have been too many books in which…" description: "\"There have been too many books in which some young man is looking forward, backward or sideways in anger. Or in which some Southern youth is being chas..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/3b0/bennett-cerf-17226_books_there-have-been-too-many-books-in-which_2742406.png" --- # There have been too many books in which some young man is… ![“There have been too many books in which some young man is looking forward, backward or sideways in anger. Or in which some Southern youth is being chased through the magnolia bushes by his aunt. She catches him on page 28 with horrid results.” quote by Bennett Cerf](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/3b0/bennett-cerf-17226_books_there-have-been-too-many-books-in-which_2742406.png) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/3b0/bennett-cerf-17226_books_there-have-been-too-many-books-in-which_2742406.png) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/3b0/bennett-cerf-17226_books_there-have-been-too-many-books-in-which_2742406.png) > “There have been too many books in which some young man is looking forward, backward or sideways in anger. Or in which some Southern youth is being chased through the magnolia bushes by his aunt. She catches him on page 28 with horrid results.” [Bennett Cerf](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bennett-cerf/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. The quote critiques repetitive tropes of angry, directionless youth and melodramatic chase scenes in Southern literature. **In simple terms:** It points out overused angry youth and chase motifs. Key Takeaway Avoid cliché storytelling. Themes literary criticism Southern Gothic character tropes Mood critical reflective Type analytical commentary When to use this quote - writing workshops - literary analysis - editing - teaching creative writing Key Concepts cliché youth angst regionalism Questions to Reflect On - How can writers subvert these tropes? - What fresh perspectives can replace them? A Different Perspective May overlook genuine emotional depth in such narratives. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Anger Southern](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/anger-southern-3037925/) [Backward Sideways](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/backward-sideways-3037926/) [Books](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/books/) [Books Young](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/books-young-2343511/) [Looking forward](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/looking-forward/) [Sideways Anger](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/sideways-anger-3037924/) [Writer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/writer/) [Young man](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/young-man/) [Youth Chased](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/youth-chased-3037927/) ## Related quotes > [I think that books for young people should have serious and important themes, they shouldn't be trivial. So the books I write, they would…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-boyne/i-think-that-books-for-young-people-should-have-serious-and-important/) [John Boyne](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-boyne/) > [No one thinks that young adults read hooks for YOUNG ADULTS, books for young adults are read by kids.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/terry-pratchett/no-one-thinks-that-young-adults-read-hooks-for-young-adults-books-for/) [Terry Pratchett](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/terry-pratchett/) > [I write books for young adults because I truly connect with them on some very deep level. They are our hope, our future, and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ellen-hopkins/i-write-books-for-young-adults-because-i-truly-connect-with-them-on/) [Ellen Hopkins](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ellen-hopkins/) > [Good books are to the young mind what the warming sun and the refreshing rain of spring are to the seeds which have lain…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/horace-mann/good-books-are-to-the-young-mind-what-the-warming-sun-and-the/) [Horace Mann](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/horace-mann/) > [I started reading Dickens when I was about 12, and I particularly liked all of the orphan books. I always liked books about young…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-boyne/i-started-reading-dickens-when-i-was-about-12-and-i-particularly/) [John Boyne](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-boyne/) > [Lists, and lists of lists, invite many questions and one that crops up here is: what makes a children's book last? When it's books…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michael-rosen/lists-and-lists-of-lists-invite-many-questions-and-one-that-crops-up/) [Michael Rosen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/michael-rosen/) > [“I see now that dismissing YA books because you're not a young adult is a little bit like refusing to watch thrillers on the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nick-hornby/i-see-now-that-dismissing-ya-books-because-you-re-not-a-young-adult/) [Nick Hornby](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nick-hornby/) > [One of my favourite books when I was young was 'Wuthering Heights.'](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/taika-waititi/one-of-my-favourite-books-when-i-was-young-was-wuthering-heights/) [Taika Waititi](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/taika-waititi/) > [“I disappeared into books when I was very young, disappeared into them like someone running into the woods.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rebecca-solnit/i-disappeared-into-books-when-i-was-very-young-disappeared-into-them/) [Rebecca Solnit](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rebecca-solnit/) > [“I tell you this because books for young readers are so often written about that very moment: the moment of the fork. The moment…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/virginia-euwer-wolff/i-tell-you-this-because-books-for-young-readers-are-so-often-written/) [Virginia Euwer Wolff](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/virginia-euwer-wolff/) > [I feel a kind of reverence for the first books of young authors. There is so much aspiration in them, so much audacious hope…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/henry-wadsworth-longfellow/i-feel-a-kind-of-reverence-for-the-first-books-of-young-authors-there/) [Henry Wadsworth Longfellow](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/henry-wadsworth-longfellow/) > [The books for young people say a great deal about the selection of Friends; it is because they really have nothing to say about…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/henry-david-thoreau/the-books-for-young-people-say-a-great-deal-about-the-selection-of/) [Henry David Thoreau](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/henry-david-thoreau/) > [If she still has coloring books, She's to young for you Bro!](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/pauly-d/if-she-still-has-coloring-books-she-s-to-young-for-you-bro/) [Pauly D](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/pauly-d/) > [I think that actually the rhythmic nature of picture books and of young reader story books is a way to help kids fall in…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/josh-prince/i-think-that-actually-the-rhythmic-nature-of-picture-books-and-of/) [Josh Prince](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/josh-prince/) > [I see now that dismissing YA books because you're not a young adult is a little bit like refusing to watch thrillers on the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nick-hornby/i-see-now-that-dismissing-ya-books-because-you-re-not-a-young-adult-2/) [Nick Hornby](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nick-hornby/) ## More by Bennett Cerf > [Television, I love it, everything that happened before television lumped together, never caused folks to turn on a street to stare at me, or…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bennett-cerf/television-i-love-it-everything-that-happened-before-television/) [Bennett Cerf](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bennett-cerf/) > [A person who can bring the spirit of laughter into a room is indeed blessed.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bennett-cerf/a-person-who-can-bring-the-spirit-of-laughter-into-a-room-is-indeed/) [Bennett Cerf](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bennett-cerf/) > [“Coleridge was a drug addict. Poe was an alcoholic. Marlowe was killed by a man whom he was treacherously trying to stab. Pope took…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bennett-cerf/coleridge-was-a-drug-addict-poe-was-an-alcoholic-marlowe-was-killed/) [Bennett Cerf](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bennett-cerf/) > [Politicians are like ships: noisiest when lost in a fog.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bennett-cerf/politicians-are-like-ships-noisiest-when-lost-in-a-fog/) [Bennett Cerf](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bennett-cerf/) > [The person who can bring the spirit of laughter into a room is indeed blessed.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bennett-cerf/the-person-who-can-bring-the-spirit-of-laughter-into-a-room-is-indeed/) [Bennett Cerf](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bennett-cerf/) > [The Atomic Age is here to stay - but are we?](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bennett-cerf/the-atomic-age-is-here-to-stay-but-are-we/) [Bennett Cerf](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bennett-cerf/) > [Everybody was being decent, and when people are decent, thing work out for everybody. That has been my theory all through life. If you're…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bennett-cerf/everybody-was-being-decent-and-when-people-are-decent-thing-work-out/) [Bennett Cerf](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bennett-cerf/) > [The Detroit String Quartet played Brahms last night. Brahms lost.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bennett-cerf/the-detroit-string-quartet-played-brahms-last-night-brahms-lost/) [Bennett Cerf](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bennett-cerf/) > [Middle age is when your old classmates are so grey and wrinkled and bald they don't recognize you.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bennett-cerf/middle-age-is-when-your-old-classmates-are-so-grey-and-wrinkled-and/) [Bennett Cerf](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bennett-cerf/) > [Gross ignorance is 144 times worse than ordinary ignorance.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bennett-cerf/gross-ignorance-is-144-times-worse-than-ordinary-ignorance/) [Bennett Cerf](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bennett-cerf/) > [Football season: The only time of the year when a man can walk down the street with a blond on one arm and a…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bennett-cerf/football-season-the-only-time-of-the-year-when-a-man-can-walk-down/) [Bennett Cerf](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bennett-cerf/) > [They tell about a fifteen-year-old boy in an orphans' home who had an incurable stutter. One Sunday the minister was detained and the boy…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bennett-cerf/they-tell-about-a-fifteen-year-old-boy-in-an-orphans-home-who-had-an/) [Bennett Cerf](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bennett-cerf/) > [For me, a hearty elly laugh is one of the beautiful sounds in the world.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bennett-cerf/for-me-a-hearty-elly-laugh-is-one-of-the-beautiful-sounds-in-the-world/) [Bennett Cerf](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bennett-cerf/) > [There is a mass of people, we might as well admit, who if they weren't watching television, would be doing absolutely nothing else.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bennett-cerf/there-is-a-mass-of-people-we-might-as-well-admit-who-if-they-weren-t/) [Bennett Cerf](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bennett-cerf/) > [Reading is a pleasure of the mind, which means that it is a little like a sport: your eagerness and knowledge and quickness count…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bennett-cerf/reading-is-a-pleasure-of-the-mind-which-means-that-it-is-a-little/) [Bennett Cerf](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bennett-cerf/) [Explore all 37 Bennett Cerf quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bennett-cerf/) ## More Books quotes > [I think a new world will arise out of the religious mists when we approach our Bible with the idea that it is not…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/aiden-wilson-tozer/i-think-a-new-world-will-arise-out-of-the-religious-mists-when-we/) [Aiden Wilson Tozer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/aiden-wilson-tozer/) > [If I had a dollar for every time I couldn’t sleep, I could buy a billion locks and finally read a book in peace.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/aesop-rock/if-i-had-a-dollar-for-every-time-i-couldn-t-sleep-i-could-buy-a/) [Aesop Rock](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/aesop-rock/) > [If what I write is literature, I guess you'd better emphasize the 'litter.'](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lydia-lunch/if-what-i-write-is-literature-i-guess-you-d-better-emphasize-the/) [Lydia Lunch](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lydia-lunch/) > [My sentences got sharper and my stories more efficient, and I gradually learned to imagine the reader more clearly and to empathize with that…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/karen-thompson-walker/my-sentences-got-sharper-and-my-stories-more-efficient-and-i/) [Karen Thompson Walker](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/karen-thompson-walker/) > [Young men, especially in America, write to me and ask me to recommend “a course of reading.” Distrust a course of reading! People who…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/andrew-lang/young-men-especially-in-america-write-to-me-and-ask-me-to-recommend-a/) [Andrew Lang](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/andrew-lang/) > [“Within the pages of books, I've journeyed to Mandalay, the Milky Way and Santa Fe, without once having to leave my armchair.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kevin-ansbro/within-the-pages-of-books-i-ve-journeyed-to-mandalay-the-milky-way/) [Kevin Ansbro](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kevin-ansbro/) > [The Rosary is the book of the blind.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/fulton-j-sheen/the-rosary-is-the-book-of-the-blind/) [Fulton J. Sheen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/fulton-j-sheen/) > [“Tacitus did not write a most dangerous book. His readers made it so.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/christopher-k-krebs/tacitus-did-not-write-a-most-dangerous-book-his-readers-made-it-so/) [Christopher K. Krebs](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/christopher-k-krebs/) > [“Take some books and read; that’s an immense help; and books are always good company if you have the right sort.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/louisa-may-alcott/take-some-books-and-read-that-s-an-immense-help-and-books-are-always/) [Louisa May Alcott](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/louisa-may-alcott/) > [Reader, if you are gifted with nerves like mine, aspire to any character but that of a wit.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charles-lamb/reader-if-you-are-gifted-with-nerves-like-mine-aspire-to-any/) [Charles Lamb](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charles-lamb/) > [I have many who keep me going, I am very fortunate in this sense. There is nothing like a child who knows more about…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/floyd-cooper/i-have-many-who-keep-me-going-i-am-very-fortunate-in-this-sense-there/) [Floyd Cooper](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/floyd-cooper/) > [I think books in which people are really happy and things are going well are probably the most challenging novels there are to write,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anna-quindlen/i-think-books-in-which-people-are-really-happy-and-things-are-going/) [Anna Quindlen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anna-quindlen/) > [It's like the query letter problem that I just mentioned, magnified a hundredfold. You might be good at telling a story, but that doesn't…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/patrick-rothfuss/it-s-like-the-query-letter-problem-that-i-just-mentioned-magnified-a/) [Patrick Rothfuss](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/patrick-rothfuss/) > [“Be careful about reading health books. 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