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Rating: 
Summary: Fabulous
Review: John Ralston Saul teaches us to DOUBT. He satirizes everything from the letter A, to the history of the croissant, to the value of sex. This book could change your life
Rating:
Summary: Fabulous
Review: John Ralston Saul teaches us to DOUBT. He satirizes everything from the letter A, to the history of the croissant, to the value of sex. This book could change your life
Rating:
Summary: Biting Commentary Essential to all Concerned Citizens
Review: Saul has attempted to place the current use of language for the purpose of public discussion into historical terms. Through the unusual format of a dictionary-style argument, Saul convincingly argues that our public officials' obsession with a society conceived upon the faith of knowledge specialization and economic quantification has swerved Western Civilization (as defined by the values that emerged out of the Enlightenment) off the very basis of what has allowed our societies to develop, prosper and gain greater informational and monetary wealth. Throughout the argument, Saul points out that historically, it is not through a blinding respect for one (sometimes isolated) principle that Western societies have developed, but that it is through careful (humanist) consideration of the complex and interrelated problems that constantly confront the varying interests of society. Though sometimes appalling in its generalizations and uncited factual accounts, the book is a satirical and correct swipe at our use of language sure to affect your own analysis of daily events.
Rating:
Summary: to change the world,write a dictionary!
Review: that misuse of language has characterized societies in crisis has been observed since Thucydides. The remedy,to write a dictionary,is attempted by the brave - voltaire,diderot,johnson and bierce have lite beacons in the fog. Ralston Saul here defines a vocabulary for reform.
Rating: 
Summary: puerile
Review: The main problem with this book is that it's just not funny, although Saul tries so very hard to be. Ambrose Bierce he is not. Nor much of an incisive critic in the Frankfurt School vein either, though no doubt he wishes he had Adorno's acerbic wit. What the book ends up being, then, is a collection of half-baked observations written in workaday prose. The entries either are utterly pointless ("HAPPY HOUR: A depressing comment on the rest of the day and a victory for the most limited Dionysian view of human nature.") or take potshots at ideas and people far too complicated for Saul's facile understanding of the universe (the entry on Plato begins: "Brilliant novelist. Accomplished humourist. In spite of which he wasn't as much the author of Socrates as he would have wished"--okay, but who WOULD be, I wonder, since Socrates wrote no books himself? Would Saul argue that it'd be better to have no books at all purporting to summarize Socrates' thoughts than those by Plato?). This is exactly the sort of book written by someone who's told by his dull-witted friends once too often that he's so funny and smart he ought to write down his pensees for the benefit of mankind.
Rating:
Summary: This book is a must-read!
Review: This book is a remarkable breath of fresh air in an ever more confusing world. John Ralston Saul uses his wit, intelligence and considerable grasp of history to explain the current malaise of the Western world in terms of the patterns of thought from the ancient world to the present. However, this is not a heavy or impenetrable tome, but a clear and accesible joy to read. If I could recommend only one book to anyone seeking to understand the global economy, corporatism, taxation, ethics, competition, efficiency (and many other topics from A to Z) then it would be this one. Saul begins with the definition of a dictionary as 'opinion presented as truth in alphabetical order', but his opinions are well worth your time.
Rating:
Summary: to change the world,write a dictionary!
Review: This is a remarkable book. It isn't entirely a work of political commentary, or philosophy, or social history, or humor, but is better (funnier, more direct, more critical) than most books that attempt only one of these topics. Quite outrageous, too.
Rating:
Summary: Wonderful, funny, literate and subversive.
Review: This is a remarkable book. It isn't entirely a work of political commentary, or philosophy, or social history, or humor, but is better (funnier, more direct, more critical) than most books that attempt only one of these topics. Quite outrageous, too.
Rating:
Summary: An abecedarium of subversion.
Review: This should truly be compulsory reading for journalists, students, professors, and those who generally like to be informed. Those who prefer to wallow in intellectual mediocrity and ignorance may stay clear of this volume. John Ralston Saul articulates what we all know and yet refuse to believe. Illuminating and necessary.
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