Mr. Wheen (read his book, and you’ll see why he rates a “Mr.” in mine) is smart, sharp, skeptical and a dab hand with words. Making this the sort of book you can almost shave with.
It certainly wakes you up, but not with the soul-jarring crudity of a wet dog’s nose nuzzling your foot on a winter morning. No. This is much more insidious. Like the slow, sphincter-clenching wake-up call associated with a mother-in-law visiting for the weekend.