This book may not seem worth buying to most people. I first heard about it while watching "The Daily Show with Jon Stewart." The author appeared as a guest on the show to promote the book. It seemed like a riot so I finally got a copy.
First of all this book is short. It's more like an essay. But its mere 67 pages are filled with very interesting questions and information. I'm no expert on philosophy but this book makes me wish I were. First of all the entire premise of the book borders on the ludicris1. Second This baby is filled with quotes that you never thought you would find in a serious work. Such as:
"Is the bullshitter by his very nature a mindless slob? Is his product necessarily messy or unrefined? The word shit does, to be sure, suggest this. Excrement is not designed or crafted at all; it is merely emitted, or dumped. It may have a more or less coherent shape, or it may not, but it is in any case certainly not wrought."2
I highly recommend this book to anyone who has ever wondered how bullshit is different from humbuggery or balderdash. I also recommend it to anyone with a childish sense of humor who will get a kick out of so much use of the word "shit" in a semi-serious context.
My Rating: 4/5
NOTES:
1: ludicris is the way to spell ludicrous with street cred.
2. Frankfurt, Harry On Bullshit Princeton University Press Princeton, NJ 2005 pp 21-22.