I rarely write reviews of books I don't finish reading but I refuse to finish reading this one. Name-drops aplenty but entirely superficial. Doesn't answer its title; doesn't offer anything profound at all. Simply a hotch-potch of things in the last few decades which its author finds ridiculous, often unfairly and without context, and ends with a single paragraph summary that the Enlightenment offered a lot but people acting in bad faith frustrated its promise and that frustration may continue. A meaningless conclusion. Look elsewhere for commentary of significance. The question that leaps out at the reader, of course, is whether the Enlightenment itself was flawed, but that would require a depth of thought not evident here. Has made me distrustful of Wheen. Tabloid, albeit post-graduate. Next. ( )

A book reminiscent of the older work, Extraordinary Popular Delusions and the Madness of Crowds. The author traces the history of current trends in anti-critical thinking and embrace of delusion through the last couple of decades of the 20th century, though she does move backward to find the threads and traces that led to that point. She writes lucidly, selects quotes that are relevant, and at times delicious, and does her research well. It is easy to read, not bogged down in technical minutiae but not superficially fluffy, either. It would be interesting to see an updated version now that the problem has spread its tentacles even further. ( )

The author has a superficial look at the actions of world leaders and various other points of contention, such as medicine that doesn't work. He seems to take far too much at face value- for example he has not asked Tony and Cherie Blair why they had a mayan rebirthing ceremony- it may have been that they just wanted a sexy sauna. He also doesn't realise that a UFO is an Unidentified Flying Object - some of which are subsequently identified. This does not make them interplanetary travel devices. On the whole it is a journalist doing what they do best - sensationalise to sell papers, in this case a book. Far too superficial for me I was left thinking this is five hours of my life wasted. ( )

The quotation on the front of the book from Jeremy Paxman described it as 'hilarious' - obviously Mr Paxman and my ideas on humour differ greatly as this book didn't raise many laughs. Parts of it did raise a wry smile and it pointed the finger at many ludicrous things, but this book is not humour as I have seen it categoried - unless like Paxman your idea of fun is terrorism, Islam, Enron, New Labour and post-modernism then don't come here looking for laughs. Having said that, I did enjoyed most of this book. The most light-hearted that looked at the popularity of self-help books which just rehash platitudes. Some times, I was confused by how certain things were going to be connected (Iran and post-modernism for example) and I did wonder that in some cases if his connections and conclusions would really hold up to close scrutiny. That he pours similar scorn on people playing the lottery as terrorists misinterpreting the Koran seems a bit off at times. But overall an interesting book even if I didn't always agree totally with the author. And it made me relieved that I didn't always 'get' post-modernism. ( )

This one had me torn between agreeing with him and wanting to slap him for lumping all belief systems into the melange of stupidity.

However it is a book several people should read about how spin has blinded us to reality. ( )