Douglas Davies (1) (1947–)

When people complain about dry, overwrought academic writing, they're talking about this book. Some of the information is interesting, but a lot of it is overblown reportage, merely inflated factual information, and what little of the book is critically interpretive comes off sounding like the famous Calvin & Hobbes cartoon, in which Calvin explains that "the purpose of writing is to inflate weak ideas, obscure poor reasoning, and inhibit clarity." You do know, Mr. Davies, that the cartoon is a joke, don't you?

The research here is decent, but the presentation is convoluted and the argument practically nonexistent. Alas.… (mais)