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Mar 15, 2009

Suman rated it:

Intellectually lazy...

You've had this situation. There's six hours to go before a 10 page paper is due, and you haven't begun writing yet. You have this dynamite thesis and things seem to be really coming together in your head, but once you start putting pen to paper you find out the following: a) your world-shattering idea is not very concrete, b) you only have a couple pieces of good evidence, c) a number of your arguments stem from your own prejudices rather than fact, and d) oh s More...

1 comment like (6 people liked it)

Oct 28, 2010

Astraia rated it:

Author David Denby defines "snark" as "things he does not like." He states in his "essay" that snark is biting comments that are directed at an individual that have no civic purpose. But really, he just (goes on and on) telling us that Stephen Colbert is a genius and not snarky (even if he directs comments at individuals) because he is funny and ironic in the author's opinion. He finds a good number of snarky people (such as people who respond on internet blogs) More...

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Feb 28, 2009

Lisa rated it:

A quick, generally interesting book on the nature of snark and why it's bad. Denby is a clever writer but the book suffers somewhat from his trying to hit a moving target in defining what snark is. Often, it seems as if "I know it when I see it" is the definition, but he gives copious examples of what he considers snark and what he considers snark-free vituperation. And any book that devotes an entire chapter (albeit a short one) to taking down Maureen Dowd is OK with me.

0 comments like (2 people liked it)

Jan 10, 2009

Bev rated it:

This is a terrific book that neatly separates meaningful satire and irony(Denby likes Jonathan Swift and the Colbert Report) from the kind of lazy, nasty pot-shots and knowing in-jokes that pollute public discourse and deliver debate into the hands of whoever is willing to be the most unfair at the highest volume. I know exactly what he's saying.
The New York article got it wrong by defending (and using) the same kind of savage humor that Denby champions and then calling that snark. It miss More...

0 comments like (1 person liked it)

Jul 05, 2011

ccccurt rated it:

I enjoyed reading David Denby’s book Snark: It’s Mean, It’s Personal, and It’s Ruining Our Conversation, and as with most books on contemporary culture, there’s an interesting debate to follow on the internet. Denby, however, deals with a slippery term, and never defines it (which I know is impossible with terms that users are redefining everyday). So I tried to define it myself.

Snark clings to our baser narratives--about race, sex, class and religion--and refutes any new evidence th More...

1 comment like

Mar 29, 2010

Blog on Books rated it:

Well, it’s about time… Finally, somebody had the perspicacity to dig into the cultural/linguistic phenomenon that has been raging ever since the blogosphere exploded where bloggers and often anonymous commentators get their rocks off by tossing out a plethora of digs, cuts, insults and verbal bile that can only be categorized as…(wait for it…) snark.
Denby, (a critic at the New Yorker and the author of ‘Great Books’ and ‘American Sucker’) tackles the problem head on, first by defining ’snar More...

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Jan 19, 2010

Amy Wilder marked it as to-read

Is it weird that I want to read the book about snark by a guy I thought I liked for being snarky? I mean, maybe he isn't exactly snarky - if I know what he means, I think he means snark as in humorous in a snide way that pokes fun and implies a critique but doesn't really reveal the agenda or anything about the snarker except that they are cooler than the thing they are snarking. David Denby DOES always have a POV and an argument behind his critique. But - the fun of it is how he rips a piece More...

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Jul 28, 2009

Ben rated it:

A book like Snark - and by that I mean any work that sets out to define and critique a cultural phenomenon that is still in the process of running its course - is both important and doomed to a maximum of only partial success. A book like this can only be partially successful because the author wants to put (relatively) clear parameters around a nebulous concept about which I suspect most people would disagree, at least somewhat, in the particulars. And when I say "particulars," w More...

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Mar 20, 2009

Cameron rated it:

Snarky is one of my favorite adjectives. For me it recalls a mode of surviving the degradations of corporate inanity, customer irritability, and coworker absurdity. Snark provided a vehicle to vent with sympathetic ears and alleviate tension with acid humor and commiseration. So when Denby's "polemic in seven fits" released with this subtitle and the cover description of "it's mean, it's personal, and it's ruining our conversation," I was a bit taken aback. How could my f More...

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Apr 14, 2010

Brendan rated it:

Denby's "Polemic in Seven Fits" seeks to categorize and understand the modern tendency toward snarky writing and commentary. Denby makes the argument that snark works in a similar mode as satire and irony, but where those two forms have purpose and craft, snark does not. He suggests that it's the cheap joke without the purpose behind it.

* Denby levels significant criticism at the Internet's anonymous commenter culture, which allows individuals to make long-lasting cri More...

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Jan 20, 2010

Emilia rated it:

David Denby, I think I've secretly loved you all these years. The New Yorker and your reviews keep me going sometimes.

I like your basic premise: Mean can be funny. Funny can be mean. Biting satire and irony are just fine. Snark is not. Why not? It undermines and mocks the thing it attacks without believing in something better itself. It's deeply often cynical and invasive and petty and contradicts itself.

Denby traces the evolution of snark through ancient Rome (man Juven More...

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Sep 20, 2009

Diane rated it:

What is snark? According to Denby (and I like his assessment), it's cheap easy humor, it's devoid of passion or ideals or belief, it's an assumed knowing wink, it's the outsider slamming those on the inside, often until he or she is accepted in themselves. This is a quick read, as not much further development here, but what Denby has is agreeable. He's not advocating any kind of censorship, but he does bemoan a lack of grace in much of today's discourse, a trend greatly exacerbated by the Intern More...

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Jun 27, 2009

Ryan rated it:

The author's prose is as silly as the effeminate scarf he wears about his neck in the unflattering author's photo....
That, my friends, is snark, as Denby deftly identifies it: insulting, mean, and--unlike satire or political irony--it stands for nothing and serves no cause but to make the utterer of snark appear clever and with it (while the object of their vituperation is made to appear foolish). Indeed, as I used snark above, it most often includes racist, misoygnistic, or anti More...

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Jan 28, 2009

David rated it:

This very brief book (125pp.) contains about 20-25 worthwhile pages. The rest, especially the supposed historical background, is pure filler. If you want to understand snark and its prevalence read the following blogs: Dead Spin, Wonkette, Perez Hilton, and With Leather. What differentiates snark from vitriolic satire and/or cultural criticism is that snark is harsh criticism for its own sake. There is no greater vision behind snark, it is all mocking and ridiculing all the time. Snark is a vici More...

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Jan 18, 2010

Michael rated it:

All throughout this slim volume, I found myself nodding at one of David Denby's points or shaking my head at the next debasing example of snark he had retrieved. It'd be easy to draw a thought-bubble above Denby's author photo and write, "Get off my lawn!" but the fact is that he's right. Snark is a dead-end, and it's about time someone diagnosed it. Whether Denby succeeds is another matter.

My own rudimentary definition of snark has always been that it's insult simply for t More...

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Oct 13, 2011

Jason rated it:

A pretty transparent effort.

Although I hold much of my fellow Goodreaders’ thoughts in high regard, I don’t usually, as a rule, read through others’ reviews of a book before I get started. While I was adding this one to the currently reading shelf, I couldn’t help myself but glance at some of the thoughts of my fellow readers. What struck me the most was the nearly common sentiment that when Denby disagrees with a position or doesn’t care for the work, it’s snark; if it aligns with his tastes or More...

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Aug 26, 2011

Ted rated it:

Denby is basically right on the idea that snark, which is a form of rudeness that rivals sarcasm as wit's poorest cousin, has gotten beyond the reasonable application. Where once a snide remark might have been an expression of the vitality of Democratic expression with tyrannical bounds has now become the entire discourse in much too much of the new media. Internet wise, it is often difficult or impossible to have serious exchange (or not so serious) on what concerns or interests you on the foru More...

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Sep 06, 2010

Jacinta rated it:

'intellectually lazy', as another commenter described it, seems appropriate. It is possible that the 'snark' discussed in this book could be defined as any instance of criticism or insult that is insufficiently funny, stems from some kind of jealous inferiority or bitterness, has no 'ideal' or better instance to promote, and is therefore a symptom of lazy indifference and the refusal to commit to a set of principles. But this is not spelled out anywhere (because the author 'doesn't want to get b More...

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Jun 09, 2009

Kacper rated it:

"The crab that tries to escape the barrel -- the girl who dresses differently or studies harder -- gets pulled back into the barrel. Who does she think she is? A young writer who creates an ambitious work of fiction gets snarked by journalists of lesser ambition. What a pretentious phony! Snark often functions as an enforcer or mediocrity and conformity. In its cozy knowingness, snark flatters you by assuming that you get the contemptuous joke. You've been admitted, or readmitted, to a club More...

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Dec 10, 2011

Mupples rated it:

This essay is awful....if you could even call it that. How did this get published? The author could barely define snark, or give credible examples to illusrate any points. He would state that " this, this, and this is NOT snark, this overhere sounds like snark, but allow me to give you some obscure historical examples of what snark is." Ech.
Pass, pass, passy mick pass-pass.
Oh, and if this was not emphasized enough, "For the Snark was a Boojum you see!" (This made n More...

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Jul 30, 2011

Phil rated it:

Really a very good book about the modern phenonenon of snark. Of course, as Denby explains, snark isn't a strictly modern phenomenon, but he argues that the rise of mass media and the internet have provided unprecedented opportunities for snark to grow and flourish. Denby also examines the difference between snark and satire, and he looks at how snark culture has altered news and other media coverage to correspond to a national psychology of skepticism. An important text for those interested in More...

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Sep 09, 2009

Josh rated it:

How not to write a book. Denby feels that we Internet bloggers and start-up journalists are, yes, destroying culture, but also just plain mean. But then he brands meanness appropriate if you're good with words, in which case it becomes "criticism." From his diatribe against Maureen Dowd and bizarrely irrelevant assertions like "Trash talk may be derived from African oral traditions," it's clear that no writers under 50 will be invited to his backyard barbecues, housed in the More...

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Sep 08, 2011

Vince rated it:

http://www.rockymountainnews.com/news/20...

This review originally appeared in the ROCKY MOUNTAIN NEWS

Author sounds alarm: Beware of the 'snark'
By Vince Darcangelo, Special to the Rocky

Published January 15, 2009 at 7 p.m.

Some readers might be puzzled by the title of David Denby's new book, Snark: It's Mean, It's Personal, and It's Ruining Our Conversation.

What the heck is a "snark"? And why does it have to be so darn me More...

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Jun 07, 2009

residentoddball rated it:

Snark is a tantalizing read for those who like to perceive and dissect the incredibly subtle attributes of communication, especially in the light of modern technology.

To his credit (and in contrast to what other reviews have said), Denby masterfully etches out the acute definition of snark. An expression tactic that blends language with demeanor, snark holds its own in a fascinating yet very complex gray area of communication, as the author points out. Denby successfully eliminates More...

1 comment like (1 person liked it)

Sep 21, 2010

Davie rated it:

Finished for now, although technically I did not read all the pages (maybe should have a separate list for these ones).

Snark as a word and a book title have such potential -- why oh why did you have to disappoint me so? Maybe if Denby had titled the book, "random things in the world that make me grumpy that I think are somehow deeply interrelated even though they are probably not," I wouldn't have had such high expectations and might have been able to get past the first ess More...

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Jan 05, 2010

Shinynickel rated it:

I listened to the audio version of this. I picked it up because I was interested in a critique of the attack culture seen more and more often online - the more extreme one is, the more readers one seems to get, and the more popularity. I was looking forward to an exploration of what damage this does to the integrity of our discussions, and why it's so satisfying/popular.

What I got instead was a scattered rant on Denby's part. He spends most of his time going after neo-conservatives, More...

1 comment like

Aug 23, 2009

Chrishna rated it:

The ultimate irony, this book was snarky! Although, it re-emphasized that we really need to elevate the level of discussion in this country. People seem to only respond to URGENT ALERTS flashing across the television screen or the most outrageous hyperbole. I'm actually worried that I might live to see Ashton Kutcher elected President of the United States. For those of you who don't know, he's Demi Moore's hunky, young husband, whose Twitter numbers rival most news outlets.

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May 27, 2009

Matt rated it:

Entertaining, informative, breezy, and a bit funny, too. This is the first nonfiction book I've read in some time, and at no point did I feel like I was reading a school assignment for a media literacy class (which, I'm sure, in many such classes, this book will appear on the syllabi). I enjoyed the breakdown of historical and modern snark, and I truly feel a bit more qualified, now, in picking out the rubbish from the witty when it comes to cultural commentary.

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Apr 29, 2009

Talitha rated it:

I was really excited to read this book, because the way people speak to each other is one of my personal soapbox issues.

I found myself really disapointed in Snark, because it only takes a handful of pages to realize that the author believes that 'snark' refers to anything anyone says about people the author likes, and anything said about people the author doesn't like is simply 'telling the truth in the great Greek and Roman tradition.'

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Dec 16, 2009

Mary rated it:

A very brief read -- the history and origins of snark are the most interesting aspect of the book. The whining about the prevalence of snark... not so fun. The author makes valid points, but hasn't society, through the ages, always complained about how everything is going down the tubes? Snark as the fall of humanity (not that the author is necessarily saying that) sounds like another 'sky is falling' chicken little anxiety. Snarky enough for ya?

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