Customer Reviews

Lexicon of intentionally ambiguous recommendations (LIAR)

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First off, this is a rather quaint book that seems more to apply to typewriters than computers. This isn't necessarily a bad thing -- it doesn't kill the humor potential at all -- but it does kind of weaken the force of the joke. In particular, creating space oddities (read the book) simply isn't doable without built-in kerning capability on the word processor, a concept only someone educated in page layout even understands.

That said, this is one of the funniest looks at one of the difficulties involved in the modern world of human resources: how do you write a recommendation that will fail to sell the candidate, without the candidate figuring out that you think they suck? "Typos" like "There wasn't much, which he couldn't do" (note comma), weasel words like "He had a flair for writing" (it was a red one), and hints on telephone recommendations (the voice gap, used to split a complementary word into an uncomplementary phrase) make this, if not exactly an invaluable resource, an excellent manual of things you wish you could do to someone you wouldn't recommend as raw material for the Soylent Green plant. This edition also adds weasel advice for the prospective new hire, with hints on how to make your resume look less incriminating.

The problem is that it's not the book it could be. The current edition is still stuck in the typewriter age with nary a multipart form in sight, thus limiting any utility it might have. It's also censored in some places, particularly the hints on what to write for someone with, er, morality issues. It's still an incredibly funny book, highly recommended to anyone who's ever had to weasel their way out of an awkward on-the-job situation, HR-related or not.

I heard a friend quote from this book and I knew I had to find it.

What can I say? LIAR is repetitive, unimaginative and, in short dull. Hardly worth the time it takes to read.

Fun little book...I obtained a copy for $1, so I did get my money's worth