Dwahzon's Village

Waste of my time and NYT's money

I found myself having to define once again why David Brooks is a waste of time after his screed on Obama. So I hunted up the review Sasha Issenberg did of Brooks' article, "One Nation, Slightly Divisible", which he later turned into a book, "On Paradise Drive: How We Live Now". The review itself, "Boo-Boos in Paradise", ran in Philly Magazine. It contains fact-checking that puts the lie to the underlying premise of Brooks' writing.

mcjoan on dailykos did a nice round-up of reviews of Brooks and his inaccuracies. Ezra's comment was particularly interesting. There's more that could be dug up but I think it sufficiently illustrates the point. He's a waste of my time and NYT's good money. Or as Sasha Issenberg put it:

Brooks satisfies the features desk's appetite for scholarly authority in much the same way that Jayson Blair fed the newsroom's compulsion for scoops.

One final link -- I'm in good company with Brad Delong and Matt Yglesias weighing in with much the same opinion.

I lied. Here's one more link and it is a delightful if lengthy takedown of Brooks by Michael Kinsley in the NYT Book Review.

posted by dwahzon @ 10:06 AM