More Money Than Brains: Why Schools Suck, College is Crap, and Idiots Think They’re Right by Laura Penny | LibraryThing is the most recent book I finished, and a thus a good time to get myself back into the habit of blogging all the books I read, if they’re worth it.
Within the first page or two I came across the phrase “North Americans,” which told me immediately (and correctly) that it was written by a Canadian. After all, North America is the least-inaccurate way to refer to the US and Canada together, and while people often could refer to the two of them together, virtually all Americans would have written “Americans,” not bothering to even assume that their statement would remain true if expanded slightly.
Anyhow, the entire book is essentially a single rant, almost a stream-of-consciousness, but somewhat better organized. The theme is around the large and growing trend of anti-intellectualism. Unfortunately, it basically sounds like what I would say, other than the much better style of writing. She has a talent for a certain sort of wordplay and wit. But beyond that, it said things I already thought and also proposed no solutions, so I ended the book feeling that my societal worries are correct and that’s that.
Is there a point in writing a book about certain problems and proposing no solutions? I’d never read one before, but then again there’s nothing wrong with stating a problem if the hope is that someone listening will themselves come up with solutions.