On Bullshit, by H.G. Frankfurt

I ran across this in, of all places, Anthropologie, that bastion of hipness that makes with the clothing and the big platters with roosters and whatnot. I read it while Carmen was shopping and Claire was looking at bugs in one of the big coffee table book-o-prints that they seem to have an endless supply of.

I'm not a big fan of rhetoric for rhetoric's sake, but anyone who can bring Ezra Pound into a conversation about clarity of definitions is worth a look-see. The winnowing down of the "tag cloud" around the term is quite impressive, first contracting then expanding back into something like a reasonable definition. Be warned, though, that this is a serious exploration of the term - those looking for tongue-in-cheekiness or political subtext will be sorely disappointed.

Reading the book carries the danger of serious questions about what you're doing in your organization and everyday life, but then I imagine if you're willing to pick it up that's already a given.

Myself, I'm waiting for the sequel, Bullshit and Horseshit: Flummery and Speciation.