Bookworm reviews a review from George P. Wood of Springfield, MO
Reviews of reviews are all the rage these days, and all the cool kidz are doing it. So it is satisfying to read a review of a review of Rod Dreher's new book which is itself a massive review of Dante's famous work, The Divine Comedy which, I should say, I highly recommend reading for those with immortal souls.
Reviews, reviews, out the wazoos....
(OK, here's the review, without further ado.)
George P. Wood of Springfield, MO reviewed Rod's book on Amazon and explains to everybody what the problem was. George is a pretty impressive guy with some impressive degrees and obviously knows a lot about a lot of things.
[Link to review from George P. Wood of Springfield, MO]
"The problem was that Dreher had left Starhill for a reason: The inability of his family—especially his father, but even Ruthie herself—to understand any way that wasn’t their way."
See, that's the problem with folks around here, and George P. Wood of Springfield, MO knows it. Just close minded people. It wasn't Rod. George P. Wood of Springfield, MO just explained to the world why it wasn't.
And so when Rod came back, believe it or not folks were still that way. Unable to understand any way that wasn't their way, especially Rod's way. And that flaw in them made Rod physically sick.
Folks just can't get any lower or meaner than that, making other people physically sick by being unable to understand any way that isn’t their way.
“Well,” his rheumatologist told him,“you have a choice. Leave Louisiana, or resign yourself to destroying your health."
"Dreher felt that wasn’t a choice. There must be a way to stay put and find inner peace."
And sure enough there was. Write another book about how folks around here make other people physically sick by being unable to understand any way that isn’t their way. You heard it from George P. Wood of Springfield, MO himself, and so did the rest of the world.
I admit that on many occasions in the past I've been enraged by Rod Dreher. But this fellow Bookworm provides a great example of why I'm no longer angered by him. Everyone save a few weirdos is onto him at this point. He has sunk so low that he has had to invent academic sock puppets to encourage him and to beg him to write books and so forth. His publisher is basically an opportunistic soft-core peddler who made sure there was T&A on his book cover. He has blamed his poor health on people not liking him. He has clung bitterly to this Bunker Option thing even though it has proven to be nothing more than raving. He deplores our plastic disposable hedonistic society and then commits selfie-abuse amid piles of restaurant food.
No one I care about is giving this guy any respect anymore, and that's the way it should be. I just loaded that ridiculous pic into How Old -- here's the result:
When robots think you look like a 49-year-old woman it's time to pull a makeover or put the camera away. Or both, dude.
The robots think I'm 47. I'm 34, but I'll take it.
ReplyDeleteHah!! I got 33. And I just turned 64. But it's a blurry photo, and that makes all the difference.
ReplyDelete"Dreher felt that Ruthie’s “little way” supplied was lacking in his and his family’s urban existence; so, they moved to Starhill"
ReplyDeleteAgain, I'm not a daily Dreher reader, but I recall from one of his posts that he and Julie had a mortgage way under water. He might have just been bailing out of a bad deal, about to get worse.
Say it ain't so. Mollie Hemingway 46? Robots can be so cruel.
ReplyDeleteThe robots thought I was 65 (which, yes, is too old -- and in the wrong decade). But at least they saw me as male.
ReplyDeleteThis talk about a middle-aged male being mistaken for a woman reminded me of this old blog from years back.
ReplyDeleteBut Dreher's aura was even stronger that those guys', so strong as to penetrate his chin whiskers.
Yes; that whole thing was very post-post-modern and I'm sure tremendously offensive to many. Most notable among the MWLLOL? Bruce Jenner.
DeleteWell, when your book is tanking you will use anyone you can to try to help keep it afloat. Today Dreher tries to exploit the image and words of the Holy Father to bolster his sales.
ReplyDelete"Somebody please send the Holy Father a copy of How Dante Can Save Your Life. He’s basically blurbing the book here."
No, Rod. The Holy Father is not blurbing your book. He is sharing some thoughts about a treasure trove of wisdom from the middle ages. You are selling a fancy brand of toilet paper. The fact that you do not know the difference is the reason your sales are sinking like the Titanic. But, the good news is that the local WalMart has clues on sale this weekend as their loss leader. Maybe you can ask your long-suffering wife to pick one up for you when she does the shopping. Goodness knows you'd never find it.
Well, when your book is tanking you will use anyone you can to try to help keep it afloat.
DeleteHe sure is. He's now conscripted The Rolling Stones (1972 version) to help, by connecting songs from Exile on Main Street to his damn book:
And I thought: that’s the Divine Comedy, right there. It really and truly is. Buy my book How Dante Can Save Your Life if you want to know more...
I have a better idea: just listen to Exile on Main Street and skip Dreher's book.
Reading Dreher makes me start to hate things I love (Divine Comedy, and now this). I cannot let him do that ...
Pik, if you try to link your product - let's call it, oh, say, fried kangaroo boogers - to everything in the friggin' Universe, eventually something will stick, even with the grease, and you'll reel in an unsuspecting buyer interested in Pope Francis, Mick Jagger, or, who knows what's next. Spongebob Squarepants, maybe.
DeleteMaybe linking your product to "everything in the friggin' Universe" will work for the BO, too. Dreher is giving it a shot, anyway: Marriage as Benedict Option.
DeleteWho knew: some of us were already in the BO. We just didn't know it.
So, being faithful to your marriage and your parish constitute living the Benedict Option. So why is it he needs to write a book?
DeleteThis is like entering "Kalamazoo puffin restraints" or some such into Google and having an ad from Amazon.com pop up cheerfully encouraging one to "find it on Amazon.com" (sadly, apparently Amazon is currently out of stock on KPRs).
DeleteSimilarly, Dreher, as free of shame or embarrassment as a newborn babe, is cheerfully advertising to Christian and conservative alike that whatever you want to spend your money on right now is exactly what he happens to have for sale.
It is uncanny sometimes how the market brings willing seller and innocent buyer together.
The Benedict Option is so far beyond self-parody at this point that it has got to be some sort of record for sizzle-selling.
DeleteIf you ask if something is compatible with the Benedict Option, and that thing is to every sensible Christian's mind a good thing, then Dreher is liable to say "yes, that is 100% Benedict Option approved." E.g., the sacrament of marriage.
OTOH people who are going to try to follow proactively a sort of flight from the world into the bunker are not going to do the things that are also good and often necessary. I.e., being active in politics, starting radio stations, carrying the debate to the public square, founding hospitals, starting publishing houses, etc. And that's fine -- I guess -- but when the BO people turn around and judge the non-BO people for their actions, which is exactly where it's all headed to my mind, that is just WRONG.
In the guise of passively stewarding and protecting Christianity from the barbarians, what you're describing instead, Pauli, is an implicit purity test for Christians to measure other Christians against themselves by.
DeleteAnd unlike homeschooling or not having TV, because the Benedict Option is content free and purely stylistic it's free to be applied in the same way white liberals check each other for their relative non-racist superiority.
"I know you like to think of yourself as a good Catholic, Pauli, but tell me, really: have you taken the Benedict Option yet? Our family has, and it's made all the difference, knowing that we're living not only for Christ but for all of human history to come."
Pauli: "Kewl - what have you actually done?"
(condescendingly): "Weren't you listening? I've already told you. We're taking the Benedict Option, ensuring that we live fully Christian lives despite all the crap that's going on in popular culture."
(helping the underprivileged, or offering relief from occasional constipation): "You and your family should really look into it. It could improve your own lives immensely. This incredibly prophetic man Rod Dreher is even in the process of writing a book about it."
(At this point my own mind embraces Bluto's folkie guitar scene from Animal House, but that's just me.)
So, being faithful to your marriage and your parish constitute living the Benedict Option. So why is it he needs to write a book?
ReplyDeleteSo he can take credit by attaching his brand to them. Had Wile E. Coyote been born a generation later, he would have inevitably been crushed by a Dreher rather than an Acme anvil.
Twelve years ago, I titled a blog post about some damnfool thing Rod wrote, "Journalist goes beyond parody, likes the view."
ReplyDeleteNow he's set up a convenience store there.
At this point, I think it's a big box store, offering everything under the sun, all with the BO house brand as the loss leader.
Delete