NP - The Alchemist by Paulo Coelho

[David Morris]

Recently  a departing ("terminated," as the guy sitting next to me put it)
office-mate with whom I never got along left me a "gift of thanks" for
my...not liking him... on his last day here, just before we had the locks
changed.  Seriously.

His gift?  The book in the title of this post.  I know it's gotta suck,
because the last "gift" he gave everyone in the office for Christmas was a
DVD of "The Secret,"  you know, that little gem < http://www.thesecret.tv/ >
that purport to contain "*the secret laws and principles of the universe*."
Now you have a clue why I never got along with that guy.

So I ask myself what I should do with his new gift (I threw away the last
one unopened).  Not knowing a thing about the author, except that  a blurb
from the NY Times on the back says, "This Brazilian author makes books
disappear from stores."  That doesn't sound good to me.  And upon Googling
for reviews of the book I learn it's been translated into numerous languages
and is one of the all-time best seller evah!

Then on the Powell's Books site I find this blurb of a review from Kirkus:

"[I]t's an interdenominational, transcendental, inspirational fable — in
other words, a bag of wind....A message clings like ivy to every encounter;
everyone, but everyone, has to put in their two cents' worth....The absence
of characterization and overall blandness suggest authorship by a committee
of self-improvement pundits..."

Now I can in good conscience trow this in the trash, which I just did!  That
passive-aggressive Fuck!

Thanks for indulging in my vent...
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