WurfWhile

I haven’t read all of David Brook’s columns by any means, nor heard all of his NPR interviews (though I’ve caught some, I’m a big E.J. Dionne fan), and I only have stomached some of his New York Times articles, so I can’t fully judge him. But I’ve never thought of him as more than a hack, at times a clever or eloquent hack, but a hack. I’m constantly struck by his defenders who, based on what I’ve read from Brooks, border on the delusional. So I’m going to do it. I’m going to read Bobo’s and On Paradise Drive: How We Live Now (And Always Have) in the Future Tense. I’m also going to start reading each New York Times Op Ed he writes until I finish the books (kind of a built-in incentive to finish fast). Perhaps I will find something redeeming in Brooks, justifying Nicholas Confessore’s split personality thesis (journalist/hack), if not Brooks’ paycheck from the Times. It would be nice to read something insightful from Brooks that isn’t woven with misleading and deceitful threads. When I finish I’ll report back.