Ashton Applewhite

Ashton Applewhite is the author, under the pseudonym Blanche Knott, of a series of politically incorrect joke books titled Truly Tasteless Jokes. According to the New York Times,^[1] the first volume was the biggest-selling mass-market book of 1983. Ashton Applewhite was a fresh-from-college employee working with St. Martin's Press when the series was created. The credited name of Blanche Knott is a pun, directing the reader to "blanch not" at the offensive nature of the jokes within.

Applewhite contributed an article to the June 2011 issue of Harper's Magazine entitled "Being Blanche: Coming clean about Truly Tasteless Jokes."^[2] The piece covers the genesis of the Truly Tasteless Jokes phenomenon, including a description of how it affected the New York Times Best Seller List.

In 2011 Applewhite founded Ashtonia LLC which is the exclusive publisher of the eBook versions of the Truly Tasteless Jokes books and has a website with all things tasteless.

Today, Applewhite writes on subjects ranging from science and technology to family policy and ageism in America.

Further reading

• Applewhite, Ashton. And I Quote: The Definitive Collection of Quotes, Sayings, and Jokes for the Contemporary Speechmaker, St. Martin's Press, 1992, 499 pages. ISBN 978-0-312-06897-4
• Applewhite, Ashton. "Being Blanche: Coming clean about Truly Tasteless Jokes", Harper's Magazine, June 2011, pages 65-67.
• Applewhite, Ashton and Bernie S. Siegel. Thinking Positive: Words of Inspiration, Encouragement, and Validation for People with AIDS and Those Who Care for Them, Publisher: Fireside, 1995, 205 pages. ISBN 978-0684802664
• Applewhite, Ashton. Cutting Loose: Why Women Who End Their Marriages Do So Well, Harper Paperbacks, 1999, 302 pages. ISBN 978-0060928889
• Applewhite, Ashton. "Staying Vertical", http://www.stayingvertical.com/
• Applewhite, Ashton; Tripp Evans; and Andrew Frothingham. And I Quote (Revised Edition): The Definitive Collection of Quotes, Sayings, and Jokes for the Contemporary Speechmaker, Thomas Dunne Books; Revised edition, 2003, 544 pages. ISBN 978-0312307448
• Knott, Blanche. "Truly Tasteless Jokes One", Ashtonia LLC; eBook edition, 2011. ISBN 978-0-9833594-0-1
• Knott, Blanche. "Truly Tasteless Jokes Two", Ashtonia LLC; eBook edition, 2011. ISBN 9780983359418
• Knott, Blanche. "Truly Tasteless Jokes Three", Ashtonia LLC; eBook edition, 2011. ISBN 9780983359425
• Knott, Blanche. "Truly Tasteless Jokes Web Site", Ashtonia LLC; http://www.trulytastelessjokes.com

References