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03/09/2005 Archived Entry: "What is Bullshit?"

Timothy Noah has a charming review in Slate of the forthcoming book Your Call Is Important to Us: The Truth About Bullshit by Laura Penny. Noah begins by asking...

"But what is bullshit, exactly? By which I mean: What are its defining characteristics? What is its Platonic essence? How does bullshit differ from such precursors as humbug, poppycock, tommyrot, hooey, twaddle, balderdash, claptrap, palaver, hogwash, buncombe (or "bunk"), hokum, drivel, flapdoodle, bullpucky, and all the other pejoratives favored by H.L. Mencken and his many imitators? The scholar who answers the question, 'What is bullshit?' bids boldly to define the spirit of the present age."

Which reminds me...I am currently turning my hand to book reviews (for FOX and for Freedom Daily among other publications) because I've discovered I can write effective ones even when my sense of being "inspired" or "creative" is at low tide. If anyone has books they've written or books they believe should receive more attention, please consider sending them to me for possible review. The first step is to write me at wendy@ifeminists.net.