Tosches was not a fun read. His work was interesting in a few places with strong feelings towards his subject, and more than once he caught my attention with neat trivia, specifically with the history of Minstrel Show actors making it big in the new world of motion pictures. But he has a bit too much a preachy tone, and is never consistent with his examples or points.

More than once, Tosches makes me cringe with his disregard of academic writing. Why does he dislike historians so much that he has to butcher the medium they work with? The world may never know, or care too. But as it stands, Tosches writing is too middle school for my tastes. High School at best. He uses poor imagery and rarely connects his examples with anything relevant to his current speech. For example, at one point he discusses French theater while mere sentences ago was explaining the development of motion pictures. I can’t say they aren’t dissimilar, and don’t have a connection, but he never goes beyond, never bridging the two or explaining why he brought it up in the first place.

Final review: 5 out of 10. Has some intriguing concepts, and is at least written in coherent English, but Tosches’ ramblings and contempt of academia makes it a hard read for anyone with ties to scholarly anything.

Thought of the day:

Learn your enemy’s ways. That way, you crush them on their own field, at their own game. Victory from that is oh so much sweeter.