The Future of the Book

Sometimes I buy a book just because I want to get upset. That's because too low blood pressure runs in my family, and the Canadians are just so damned nice. In some instances however, I can't even make it through the preface. Here is an example, from the preface to the 2nd edition of N.M. Taleb's book 'Fooled by Randomness':

"The rules while writing the first edition of this book had been to avoid discussing (a) anything that I did not either personally witness on the topic or develop independently, and (b) anything that I have not distilled well enough to be able to write on the subject with only the slightest effort. Everything that remotely felt like work was out. I had to purge from the text passages that seemed to come from a visit to the library, including the scientific name dropping. I tried to use no quote that did not naturally spring from my memory and did not come from a writer I had intimately frequented over the years. [...] These rules remain intact."

Hey, if you don't yet know what to do next weekend, why don't you write a book? Everybody can do it! We certainly need more printed redundancies.

Luckily the man has friends, so it continues:

"But sometimes life requires compromises: Under pressure from friends and readers I have added to the present edition a series of nonintrusive endnotes referring to the related literature."

So, I might give the book a second try. Maybe just skip the preface, he must have something to say after all. But for now I will continue reading one of these old fashioned things where the author at least doesn't proudly proclaim he avoided looking right and left while writing down his arguments.

For more on the future of the book, please consult the helpdesk.