medium stu
02-26-2007, 06:50 PM
Just read Morton and Whitten's Secrets of the SuperOptimist and I wanted to get the reactions of anyone else who's read it.
Once I got into it, the book's initial outward presentation as a humor book struck me as interesting in light of the particularly strong, consistent philosophical foundation that the book gradually reveals.
I think the book's relationship to humor is similar to the one I've seen on something like the Daily Show - it's employing laughs as an argumentative tactic for getting your guard down. Sarcasm, irony and absurdism are sort of its rhetorical tools. Ultimately its philosophy seems to be a hybrid of Buddhism, Existentialism and modern me-me-me self-help thought (though that part might be a joke).
I wonder if I'm off base there? And also, in the world of philosophy lit, if this type of writing is unique, or if there are other serious works masquerading as something outwardly resembling bathroom reading?
Once I got into it, the book's initial outward presentation as a humor book struck me as interesting in light of the particularly strong, consistent philosophical foundation that the book gradually reveals.
I think the book's relationship to humor is similar to the one I've seen on something like the Daily Show - it's employing laughs as an argumentative tactic for getting your guard down. Sarcasm, irony and absurdism are sort of its rhetorical tools. Ultimately its philosophy seems to be a hybrid of Buddhism, Existentialism and modern me-me-me self-help thought (though that part might be a joke).
I wonder if I'm off base there? And also, in the world of philosophy lit, if this type of writing is unique, or if there are other serious works masquerading as something outwardly resembling bathroom reading?