I visited my local Barnes & Noble this evening to pick up a handful of work-related books – necessary stuff, but unexciting. To compensate (yeah, yeah – pathetic excuse), I decided to treat myself to a philosophy book: Simon Blackburn’s Truth: A Guide. Earlier this week I had read Andrew O’Hehir’s review in Salon, which I heartily recommend; it’s one of those delightful reviews that stays with you all the way to the bookshop. I got home and read the Introduction while steaming some asparagus.* By the time the stalks yielded to the tip of my knife, I was hooked. Partly it’s Blackburn’s stance – recognizing the strengths of the absolutist and relativist positions without sliding into the mushy ambivalence that he decries – but mostly it’s the economy and clarity of his writing. I can tell that I’m going to enjoy this.
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* The humidity has finally broken, and I was able to turn off the A/C and open the house up. Bliss! I usually avoid cooking techniques that produce steam when it’s really humid.