Tuesday, August 28, 2018

Whatever you do, don't mention the Houyhnhnms




A fake review of "Persecution and the Art of Writing"

Strauss was clearly out of his league when he wrote this. Kuzari? Maimonides? Numerology? Come on. If you want to write, and avoid persecution, here are some more relevant tips.

Don't claim that big, bad guard dogs with an attitude actually are big, bad guard dogs with an attitude. In particular, Great Pyrenees. Don't propose the mass killing of cats. Don't insult Shetland Sheep Dogs, unless you have a wild card up your sleeve (say, a big bad cat with an attitude). Never insult the Red-Winged Blackbird or suggest that people with a Purple Martin obsession might just be a bit "out there". Never suggest that North American field guides are ugly.

And whatever you do, don't mention the elephant in the room: Neo-Darwinian natural selection can't explain the Cambrian explosions of the bombardier beetle. And if you just can't let it be, at least make sure to post your absurd stuff here on Amazon, rather than on a more serious-relevant-intellectual forum. Say the forum of Professor Harry Jaffa.

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