Matt Burriesci

Just how exasperating is this book? Oh my, let me count the ways.

First, while it is billed as a defense of the Great Books, it is no such thing. The author is not arguing for the permanency of the thought in these books; rather, he is using the Great Books as starting points or as justification for his own rants. Because that's what this book seems like. It reads as if it were written in one long caffeine-fueled binge where the author finally got everything that is bothering him off his chest. He could just have well used scenes from Harry Potter. This book isn't about the Great Books; it's about its own author.

Second, he says he is writing it to his daughter, Violet, to read when she turns 18 in 2028! Again, I contend he is writing it for himself, but if indeed it is for Violet, may she be so lucky that the book is out of print and her father has had to burn his own copies for warmth.

Third: Okay, it really isn't ALL that bad. There are times when the author's summaries of Plato, Montaigne, and others are pretty informative. I especially liked his interpretation of Hamlet. There are also a few good axioms, such as "Happiness is a choice, then it is a practice." Other times, it is hard to really understand how it all relates. The author's usual technique is to start with a personal anecdote, about a former boss or former addiction, for instance, throw in some quotes or paraphrases from a Great Book, and deliver a conclusion for Violet's benefit. Often it is much ado about nothing. We get much more insight into the author than we get into any Great Book.

Fourth, the book reads as if the editor gave up on it, or as if it never had one. I don't mean grammar; the author writes perfectly readable English and I only spotted a minor typo or two, which seems almost inevitable in any book. What is missing is fact checking. Or maybe reasonability checking. For example:

- Adolf Hitler was not "brutally executed" although the others listed by the author were. He also says Saddam Hussein was "promptly" hanged in a public square. Where does he get these ideas? He was executed in a prison after months of trial.
- He believes that justice always prevails in the end. Gee, I wish….
- He says we annihilated the Native Americans. What we did was bad enough, but we did not annihilate them.
- He believes the entire global financial system collapsed; I'm sorry, but it didn't, although it could have without the action Obama took. If he had said "almost" I wouldn't have an argument.
- He also says, "And in all these financial crises of the last 25 years-the S&L crisis, the dot-com bubble, the Enron Scandal, and the Great Recession-everyone lost a lot of money, but no wealth was actually destroyed. The truth is, it had never existed. What people lost was the illusion of wealth. That wealth didn't exist, and it had never really existed, because nobody had actually worked for it." Well, I'm sorry Mr. Author, but that is nonsense. Try telling that to the people who worked and received Enron shares as part of their compensation and saw large amounts of their counted-upon retirement savings disappear in the blink of an eye. Or to anyone else who lost their savings or their house during one of these crises. What planet are you living on?
- His understanding of the economy is seriously wacko, also. While his frustration at capitalism is understandable, the examples he gives are ludicrous. His MegaMaxSuperOffice example, for instance, would certainly NOT own all of its suppliers of pens, pencils, paper, etc. any more than Amazon owns all the suppliers of what it sells.
- I could go on…as a reader, you can pick your own examples.

Fifth, I hope writing this book made the author feel good. It will help balance out the occasional nausea I got from reading it. I do appreciate how having a daughter can change your life. It changed mine as well. It just didn't make me spout off at the mouth so much.… (mehr)

This book took me a long time to get into, and is an example of why the elusive 2nd person narrative is so rarely used.

You are a middle-aged man, coming on-board to a new job as Director of a prestigious non-profit organization. You have issues. Your issues have issues. When I realized this, suddenly, I bonded with the character of John MacManus, and I was hooked.

Read the full review here:
target="_top">https://ermareads.wordpress.com/goodreads-first-reads/nonprofit/… (mehr)