This probably sounds pretentious, but the focus here is on nipping misinformation in the bud and sharing expertise, not dunking on curious people.
If there’s a topic you’re well-read on, you probably know of books that have been panned professionally but are still popular with the general public and give away the person recommending them as a non-expert. For example, I’m an anthropology student and I roll my eyes whenever I see someone recommend “Sapiens” by Yuval Noah Harari or anything to do with Ancient Aliens or Atlantis.
by Hillbilly_Historian
1 Comment
This is kind of irrelevant but when I was reading Lonely Planets by David Grinspoon, I noticed a discrepancy in his book. He quotes, “Fly me to the moon, let me play among those stars, let me see what spring is like on Jupiter and Mars,” and he says it’s written by OSCAR HAMMERSTEIN. I knew this wasn’t right. This was obviously written by Bart Howard, in 1954, as he wrote most of Sinatra’s songs. Oscar Hammerstein wrote a couple, but Bart Howard was the lyricist at the forefront. So I sent a message to David Grinspoon about the discrepancy in his otherwise pristine book that I really was enjoying. He blamed his publisher! Who he claimed was responsible for vetting all music publishing permissions. If I had made that mistake in my own book, I’d feel embarrassed. I don’t know why he didn’t go over the publishers work. This was a really good book, but the discrepancy makes me hesitate now about the rest of it, and that’s why it’s important.
I don’t like when people say they like old literature and then say the top 10 most famous works that have ever existed. I hate Scott F. Fitzgerald. Anyone who says they love his books, instantaneous barfing occurs. Literally. Like – not only did he steal all of his wife Zelda’s works, but what he did to her was nightmarish. When she died, her mother burned all of Zelda’s artwork in her front yard. Because of the things Scott had told Zelda’s mother about her. Wtf? He stole her diary, the rights to it, and then published most of her words in his own books as his own. She’d sit and write for hours for him, revising his own writing, as he is a garbage author to begin with, only for him to doom her and steal all the glory for himself.
I don’t think Robert Frost is really that good of a poet. That’s my insane take but I’ll say it again, he’s literally mid.
One of my favorite books is maybe De Profundis by Oscar Wilde.