I’m a big fan, in the main, of both Richard and Eric Posner’s book reviews in the New Republic, among other places. Thanks to a pointer from Dave Lat on FB, I stumbled upon this selection of excerpts from the Elder’s book reviews over at Kyle Graham’s blog. Check it out 🙂 Here’s a funny send-up of what RAP would say about Moby Dick:
Fairly early in the text, it becomes clear that Ahab could maximize his returns by pursuing other whales, instead of Moby-Dick. True, Ahab lost his leg to the creature, but that is a classic sunk cost. (Can you see why?) That Ahab foregoes other, better opportunities for oil and ambergris in his hunt for the white whale represents a mystery that the author never satisfactorily explains…
Posted by Administrators on October 23, 2012 at 02:28 PM
Comments
I loved the idea and was impressed in the main by the execution, but it seems seriously out of date. The current slash-and-burn Posner of book reviews isn’t writing from an older Posner L&E perspective, but from a newer Posner pragmatist perspective.
Posted by: Paul Horwitz | Oct 23, 2012 2:36:07 PM