Winnowed Wisdom

By Stephen Leacock and Stephen -. Leacock

Book Overview

How much wisdom survives once modern knowledge has been compressed into slogans, statistics and expert pronouncements? A conversational first-person narrator tests the claims of politics, science, education and social reform against the muddle of ordinary experience, exposing the distance between institutional seriousness and human foolishness. The voice remains composed even as its arguments drift towards the gloriously absurd. Mock reports, fictional interviews and comic essays move through homes, hotels, trains, ships and holiday places, with excursions into Britain and continental Europe. Invented authorities lend weight to distorted facts; pseudo-statistics make nonsense appear measurable; elaborate lists and mock quotations turn jargon into its own form of comedy. Journalism, business and international relations receive the same sceptical attention as family life and popular culture, revealing how readily vanity and commercialism disguise themselves as progress. Beneath the playful fabrications lies a sharp study of self-deception: public opinion changes, expertise becomes tyrannical, and efficiency promises order while multiplying confusion. These satirical essays capture a world eager to appear informed, rational and advanced, yet persistently governed by fashion, pretension and error. Their distinctive pleasure comes from the narrator's calm acceptance of increasingly impossible claims, inviting each absurdity to expose the assumptions behind modern life. This book was out of print for decades and is now republished by Alpha Editions. It has been restored for today's and future generations. This edition is not just a reprint - it's a collector's item and a cultural treasure.

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 9378415156
• ISBN13: 9789378415159
• Release Date: January 2027
• Publisher: Alpha Edition
• Length: 146 Pages
• Weight: 0.45 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.3" x 6.0" x 9.0"