By Ross B. Lampert
A high school buddy gave me this book a long, long time ago. Now that I’ve read it, I have to wonder why. In the spirit of its “(In Two Lines or Less)” subtitle, here are my thoughts.
Cynical: But Ambrose Bierce’s The Devil’s Dictionary did that better.
Repetitive: Go ahead and use the same quote in different chapters. No one will notice.
Egotistical: Never trust an editor who considers more of his own thoughts “brilliant” than those in all of the great religious works ever written… combined.
Repetitive: Go ahead and use nearly-identical quotes in the same chapter. No one will notice.
Disorganized: Organizing quotes like these along themes within a given chapter is a great idea. It’s just not required.
At least I learned the full or true names of various famous people: F. Scott Fitzgerald (Francis Scott Key Fitzgerald), Voltaire (François Marie Arouet), George Orwell (Eric Blair), Anatole France (Jacques Anatole François Thibault), George Eliot (Marian Evans Cross), and Leon Trotsky (Lev Davidovich Bronstein), among others. That’s not enough to recommend this book, however.
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