Ramsey Dukes has such a strong voice. It’s a blessing and a curse: his words come across like he’d say them, but sometimes you want to whack him over the head (not too much, but maybe with a newspaper …).
The book aims to explain why ascribing emotions and personalities to things (and patterns and so on) can be good and useful. He has a wide range of examples, when he’s not busy bashing the Tories or being patronishing, and he has some decent strategies to offer. Once again I’m regretting my vanished notes, but IIRC the book boiled down to being polite and kind and generally agreeable without letting things push you around.
He talks about felt sense, common failings, historical figures, and has a lot of very practical advice. If you can get past the tone (and the Tory bashing and Hitler comparisons and patronising voice and …), it’s a good book to have read. If you can enjoy those things, like indulging your favourite uncle even when he’s annoying, then it’s even a good book to read.
This book is part of the 2022 Backlog Incident.
