About Me

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Australian philosopher, literary critic, legal scholar, and professional writer. Based in Newcastle, NSW. My latest books are THE TYRANNY OF OPINION: CONFORMITY AND THE FUTURE OF LIBERALISM (2019); AT THE DAWN OF A GREAT TRANSITION: THE QUESTION OF RADICAL ENHANCEMENT (2021); and HOW WE BECAME POST-LIBERAL: THE RISE AND FALL OF TOLERATION (2024).

Wednesday, August 26, 2009

Russell buys a copy of Unscientific America

It pains me to part with my hard-earned loot and to add to the royalties of its authors, given their unpleasant marketing tactics, but I do need to read this book, and there's no prospect at this stage of picking up a review copy.

Now that I've gone so far, I will read the book as charitably as I possibly can, and any review of it that I might publish will be scrupulously fair. The authors themselves don't show this approach in their public pronouncements on people they see as enemies, such as PZ Myers, but my reputation as a book reviewer depends on my efforts to produce reviews that are accurate, and actually useful to readers. This means pointing out what seem to me the weaknesses (if I discern some) and strengths (again, assuming I discern some) of whatever I happen to be reading. So that's what I'll aim at, as always.

I'll get to it as soon as I can, but it's in a queue.

3 comments:

Blake Stacey said...

It probably means something that I found the most interesting reviews of/responses to Unscientific America to be the ones which ended up talking about something else, like the history of the what-is-a-planet question or the academic career of Isaac Asimov.

Brian said...

Blake, that's quite true isnt' it? Says a lot about the content of the toothy ones' book.

I'm always impressed by Russell's ability to churn through books and be able to dissect them and hardest, report on them.

Hope the trips treating you well at the moment Russell.

librarian's son said...

It pains me to part with my hard-earned loot and to add to the royalties of its authors,

*whispers* psssst... library cardz iz still free