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Rating: 
Summary: You don't have to hate people to love Florence King
Review: Florence King gives a great defense of misanthropy. Her extensive vocabulary and writing skills are inspiring; it helps to have a dictionary nearby. I enjoyed this book. I learned a lot and I laughed a lot.
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Summary: One of the Wisest Humorists Alive
Review: Florence King is brilliant, she is one of my all time favorite people. It's unjust to characterize her narrowly as an author or commentator or critic... therefore the all inclusive "people." In a perfect world, she would live on one side of me and Camille Paglia on the other, and P. J. O'Rourke would drop by often and I would just sit and listen to them. Like Ms. Paglia, Miss King arrows right past the phoney facades and self justifications too many of us use and lays bare the basic hypocrisy most of us disguise as deep concern and high principle. No self serving politician would dare presume to "feel her pain," she'd snap him off at the ankles and rightly so. In her acerbic prose and painfully accurate observations is a simple creed: leave people alone, don't meddle, and don't claim higher motives than you in fact possess. She is a libertarian in the best possible sense, in the "Mind your own business, keep your hands to yourself" mode proposed by P. J. O'Rourke. Plus, she's funnier than a... oh, I don't know, it would depend on how much you valued whichever particular ox she was goring. Actually, I suppose we can be glad so many of us are pompous, self serving frauds, or else we'd be deprived of the delight in watching Miss King deftly and mercilessly dissect (vivisect?) such humbugs. She's in no danger of running out of material, let's just hope she doesn't get tired of exploiting it.
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Summary: Great Joyous Life-Affirming Comedy
Review: How can a book about misanthropy be joyful and life-affirming? Because Florence lets you know you're not alone. It can be pretty discouraging when everyone you know wants you to smile and be optimistic at all costs. Florence's devastations of the incompetent are the very definition of "catharsis." Mencken, whereever he is, must be green with envy.
Rating:
Summary: Great Joyous Life-Affirming Comedy
Review: How can a book about misanthropy be joyful and life-affirming? Because Florence lets you know you're not alone. It can be pretty discouraging when everyone you know wants you to smile and be optimistic at all costs. Florence's devastations of the incompetent are the very definition of "catharsis." Mencken, whereever he is, must be green with envy.
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Summary: Brevity is the soul of wrath
Review: I disagree with the NY Times--this book's covers are not too close together. It is of perfect length for a nice antisocial weekend. Kudos to King for introducing the reader to less obvious misanthropes. I learned that Diane Fossey was a savage, Ayn Rand was an obsessive-compulsive Fuhrer-in-waiting, and Ty Cobb was just a bully. People often confuse misanthropy with psychosis. King is sharp enough to make the distinction. I would bump into her and exchange vulgar insults anytime.
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Summary: You don't have to hate people to love Florence King
Review: I resubmit my review, to link with my current list.The "failed Southern lady" sets off into history, searching out other members of her own kind. This results in some intriguing character sketches of people like Ambrose Bierce, Jean-Jacques Rousseau, Dian Fossey, and other famous people-haters. She verges on preciousness in places, as in the interweaving of Nixon's career with a poem by a French courtier. But the book is full of her acidic well-readness, and is endlessly quotable. The introduction is a great exposition--maybe the only one in popular literature--one what makes and what does not make a misanthrope. Enjoy your bitters!
Rating:
Summary: You don't have to hate people to love Florence King
Review: I resubmit my review, to link with my current list. The "failed Southern lady" sets off into history, searching out other members of her own kind. This results in some intriguing character sketches of people like Ambrose Bierce, Jean-Jacques Rousseau, Dian Fossey, and other famous people-haters. She verges on preciousness in places, as in the interweaving of Nixon's career with a poem by a French courtier. But the book is full of her acidic well-readness, and is endlessly quotable. The introduction is a great exposition--maybe the only one in popular literature--one what makes and what does not make a misanthrope. Enjoy your bitters!
Rating:
Summary: No "hugees" here!
Review: This is one of the most enjoyable books I have ever read. If you have had too much PC or have had it up to here with cloying sentimentality, or you just had too much "other people", get this book. If you like Dorothy Parker, H.L. Mencken, Ambrose Bierce, Grouch Marx, etc., you will love this book. Miss King spares no one and pulls no punches.
Rating:
Summary: No "hugees" here!
Review: This is one of the most enjoyable books I have ever read. If you have had too much PC or have had it up to here with cloying sentimentality, or you just had too much "other people", get this book. If you like Dorothy Parker, H.L. Mencken, Ambrose Bierce, Grouch Marx, etc., you will love this book. Miss King spares no one and pulls no punches.
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