Customer Reviews

Snark

5 star:		(11)
4 star:		(15)
3 star:		(9)
2 star:		(16)
1 star:		(41)

 

 

The very fact that Denby would choose to "take on the snarkers" by being snarky about them undercuts his point. If he truly finds the form so distasteful why is it good enough for those he disagrees with. Additionally he doesn't seem to understand what "snark" really is. This reads like someone who doesn't get it rather than any kind of serious cultural critique. It also features some serious factual errors that serve to undercut his point even further. When coupled with the lazy sexism inherent in some of his points (any woman who writes anything mean about another woman has some form of "cat fight syndrome," it's true) it makes the book nearly unreadable.

...Snark is a detrimental philosophical outlook because it viciously attacks without reason. Writing books about snark however, where the author attacks only those with whom he disagrees, is an honest, noble calling? How is using a narrow personal interpretation of the world, while utterly ignoring the relative merits of a person's argument, a just cause?

This waste of paper would be illogical enough if he only set up the battle lines between liberal and conservative, an already idiotic delineation. But attacking fellow liberals for supposedly attacking other liberals? Brilliant.

With the fundamental concept of the book being such a shocking failure, it's just nitpicking to mention the mountains of simple factual errors. But, god forbid a member of the mainstream media bother with simple fact checking.

Wait, was that snarky?

What do you get when you combine Karl Rove's respect for the truth with John McCain's understanding of the internet? Well, that's clearly what David Denby aspired to, but he falls short. Poorly conceived, pedantically written and shoddily "researched," this turd is too insubstantial even to serve as a serviceable doorstop.

A poorly researched essay lamenting insensitivity of comic / satirical work mostly about political events in USA.A tired and grumpy survey of
already forgotten journalism.

This book is worth reading only - repeat only -- as a example of a reviewer/commentator who completely misunderstands his subject matter; utterly fails the basics of research/fact checking; and mistakes his own ignorance of modern society for legitimate issues.

A much more interesting book would be something along the lines of "Why Denby Failed: Intellectual Pretense and The Decline of Criticism."

Or something.

But the bottom line remains the same: Don't waste your money on this book.

The title says it all.

Let me get this straight... a book written about snark is a poignant piece of information, but actual snark is bad? Unfortunately, you shoot yourself in the foot the second you pick a side.

Had this been just a statement of what snark is, and how it is shaping our society instead of a scathing b*tchfest in which the author reams any and all who picked on him in high school, then this might have been successful. Sadly, this is just a little man who might have been bullied as a child.

Denby had an interesting book idea, and given that I enjoy political satire and am interested in the way it was used on all sides during the last election cycle, I thought this might be a terrific read. Wrong. I'm not sure how Denby came to possess the many axes he wants to grind, but his criticisms are chockablock with factual errors. Not only did he need the services of basic fact-checking, but his own utter lack of a sense of humor means that he frequently misinterprets what he reads. If his complaint against some bloggers and media is that they attack people without reason and without careful adherence to standards of truthfulness, well... hypocrite, anyone? This is not worth your money; don't bother.

This is a work defined by intellectual laziness and poor grasp of subject matter. It is a fine example of false teleology; The author attempts to construct a chronology of a recent cultural episteme without full knowledge of its discursive history then completely illogically projects it back throughout time. Also, in addition to turgid prose, it is wrought with factual errors.

What a senseless piece of garbage. Since when does proving that one is out of touch garner a book deal? At its best, Snark is uninformed and off-the-mark. At its worst, it is baseless and malicious. Since fact-checking and proper editing were apparently disregarded, maybe Denby should have just gotten a blog.

This book is nothing more than an extension of the extreme nastiness that we had to endure during the 2008 election campaigns. While Denby tries to confuse the reader with scholarly pretensions, the book basically boils down to "people who made nasty comments I agree with are true wits; those I don't agree with are harming our culture". That's why people are saying they aren't getting a clear idea of what Denby means by "snark": he doesn't have one any better than that. Fortunately for him, he picks the correct people to praise, and so he can get favorable reviews in most of the press. For myself, I'm sorry I wasted my time with this book.

Some books are so bad, I refuse to inflict them on others by reselling them or giving them away. This book is in that category. Straight into the recycling bin.