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Whatever #2
The Mallet of Loving Correction: Selected Writings from Whatever, 2008-2012
“In a very real sense, Whatever is my life’s work; it’s fifteen years (so far) of me thinking about what’s going on in my life and in my world.”—John Scalzi
What sort of idiot spends fifteen years writing a blog? New York Times Bestselling author John Scalzi is that sort of idiot. And in those fifteen years the blog he’s written, called Whatever, has won awards, had its entries republished in newspapers, magazines and books, and has seen millions of readers each year come by to read Scalzi’s observations on life, the world, and just about everything that happens in both. It’s one of the most popular personal blogs on the planet.
The Mallet of Loving Correction (named for Scalzi’s method of moderating the comment sections of his site) is the second collection of entries from Whatever. It spans two elections, a civil rights revolution, the fall of MySpace and the rise of Twitter and Facebook, and a whole era on the Internet and on the planet Earth.
Nothing is sacred (“Taunting the Tauntable” is the motto of Whatever): Scalzi takes on politicians, bigots, vengeful nerds and major corporations with righteous sarcasm—and also takes time to muse on love, marriage, children and faith. Everything and anything is up for discussion, examination and explanation.
The Mallet of Loving Correction, in short, is the whole range of one human’s experience, in one easy-to-carry package.
What sort of idiot spends fifteen years writing a blog? New York Times Bestselling author John Scalzi is that sort of idiot. And in those fifteen years the blog he’s written, called Whatever, has won awards, had its entries republished in newspapers, magazines and books, and has seen millions of readers each year come by to read Scalzi’s observations on life, the world, and just about everything that happens in both. It’s one of the most popular personal blogs on the planet.
The Mallet of Loving Correction (named for Scalzi’s method of moderating the comment sections of his site) is the second collection of entries from Whatever. It spans two elections, a civil rights revolution, the fall of MySpace and the rise of Twitter and Facebook, and a whole era on the Internet and on the planet Earth.
Nothing is sacred (“Taunting the Tauntable” is the motto of Whatever): Scalzi takes on politicians, bigots, vengeful nerds and major corporations with righteous sarcasm—and also takes time to muse on love, marriage, children and faith. Everything and anything is up for discussion, examination and explanation.
The Mallet of Loving Correction, in short, is the whole range of one human’s experience, in one easy-to-carry package.
488 pages, Hardcover
First published September 12, 2013
17 people are currently reading
645 people want to read
About the author
John Scalzi
185 books28.5k followersJohn Scalzi, having declared his absolute boredom with biographies, disappeared in a puff of glitter and lilac scent.
(If you want to contact John, using the mail function here is a really bad way to do it. Go to his site and use the contact information you find there.)
(If you want to contact John, using the mail function here is a really bad way to do it. Go to his site and use the contact information you find there.)
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 45 reviews
February 26, 2015
Winner of the coveted 2013 award for: Best-book-I-read-while-sitting-on-the-Toilet.
Seriously though, it's a great collection of thoughtful essays on marvelously diverse topics. My only regret is that the book format has forced them to leave out the comments and discussions that happen on Scalzi's blog. As that is a bizarre oasis of sanity and rational discourse on the internet.
The short essays here are, in turn, witty, funny, clever, thought-provoking, snarky, and warm hearted. Or some combination of those. That's not a mix you often see....
Highly recommended, even to folks who might not have a clue who John Scalzi is.
October 18, 2013
I found myself deeply troubled by Scalzi’s lack of narrative structure. While the date of each chapter was clearly noted, the plot was nearly impossible to follow. Scalzi, genius that he is, apparently wrote all the chapters and then rearranged them them into, of all things, alphabetical order. I assume this was an editing error. So to give Scalzi a fair review, I re-read the entire book in chronological order. Ugh, even more of a mess. There was bright cheery optimism right at the beginning, and it just sunk into despair after two years from which it never really recovered. And most of the political characters he wrote about were so laughably incompetent and ideologically corrupt that they were completely unbelievable. The only moments I didn’t want to gouge my brain out was during his forays into real-world commentary, which I guess was his attempt to be “meta.” I mean he even starts off with a chapter called “10 Things to Remember About Authors.” Self-involved much? Leaving aside my inability to find an overall theme for the novel, unless “Ha Ha, I’m Clever” is a theme, I found his insights to be deeply engaging. Bright spots for me were the chapters “Straight White Male: The Lowest Difficulty Setting There Is,” “The Failure Mode of Clever” (language alert), and “And Now, An Incredibly Long and Detailed Assessment of My Own Last Decade, With Footnotes and Annotations Where Desirable, and Such Digressions As Will Elucidate the Subject in a Manner Amusing to All, Not Sparing Heart-Tugging Anecdotes When Appropriate, Phrased in the Vernacular of Our Times.” As a prequel to Old Man’s War, however, this leaves something to be desired. Maybe Scalzi should abandon his novel writing and start a blog or whatever. Do people still blog? I give this one 5 stars because I could get it on Kindle and that makes me feel like I’m doing something about the environment without having to go outside or anything.
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November 18, 2015John Scalzi is quite a good writer; I've read five of his novels, of which two were very good and the rest were all entertaining enough. He also seems to be quite a good person; as he notes himself, in a lot of places and times he would count as a compassionate centre-right type, and it's only the lunacy of the present US political climate which has seen him held up as some kind of liberal avatar. Still, he is all in favour of equal rights regardless of race, gender, sexuality...you know, the basic requirements of being a decent 21st century human.
But the fact that his blog is such a big deal does rather confound me. The posts collected here are sequenced in an order which may have some organising principle, but certainly isn't chronological. They generally express sentiments which, if your mate expressed them on Facebook or down the pub, you'd nod companionably, or maybe even reply "Exactly!". What they are not is deathless wisdom. They're not even phrased all that excitingly. I've got one of Charlie Brooker's journalism collections vaguely on the go at present, and in that, even when he's saying something fairly obvious about a topic where we all agree, or discussing an issue as currently irrelevant as some of the third-string presidential candidates from two elections back who come under the spotlight here, at least he says it with some black flourish of bile or despair. Whereas Scalzi just says his perfectly sensible things in a thoroughly competent fashion. Seldom do I outright disagree*, though obviously I'm a few steps away from him on some of the issues here - but in 420 pages I think I laughed maybe thrice and had a tear in my eye once. And that last was for an account of a beloved dog's death, a topic where I am an utter sap and sucker.
This is not meant as an attack on Scalzi, it really isn't. More an attack on a world where a workmanlike writer's basically sane but everyday thoughts have come to be seen as some kind of beacon. Presumably because the rest of the world, online and off, has gone so fucking mental.
So how come I read this whole thing, you might reasonably ask? Simple. It was in a Humble Bundle with a bunch of stuff I did want. It's acceptable to carry your smartphone (with reader apps) in contexts where a book or newspaper might attract opprobrium. And these entries are mostly of the perfect size and density for reading on a loo break.
*I could quibble with his very qualified defence of Ayn Rand, but that's more a matter of our taste in potboilers differing, and her other fans generally being fruitloops more prone to taking her seriously in inappropriate contexts than eg enthusiasts for my own preferred opiate, Wodehouse. But the one moment where I was really taken aback came when he described Stephen Fry as being as smart as any six of the rest of us. Now, I have no time whatsoever for the idea that Fry is "a stupid person's idea of a clever person" - a classic case of Ironic Review bullshit. But six times smarter? Seriously?
But the fact that his blog is such a big deal does rather confound me. The posts collected here are sequenced in an order which may have some organising principle, but certainly isn't chronological. They generally express sentiments which, if your mate expressed them on Facebook or down the pub, you'd nod companionably, or maybe even reply "Exactly!". What they are not is deathless wisdom. They're not even phrased all that excitingly. I've got one of Charlie Brooker's journalism collections vaguely on the go at present, and in that, even when he's saying something fairly obvious about a topic where we all agree, or discussing an issue as currently irrelevant as some of the third-string presidential candidates from two elections back who come under the spotlight here, at least he says it with some black flourish of bile or despair. Whereas Scalzi just says his perfectly sensible things in a thoroughly competent fashion. Seldom do I outright disagree*, though obviously I'm a few steps away from him on some of the issues here - but in 420 pages I think I laughed maybe thrice and had a tear in my eye once. And that last was for an account of a beloved dog's death, a topic where I am an utter sap and sucker.
This is not meant as an attack on Scalzi, it really isn't. More an attack on a world where a workmanlike writer's basically sane but everyday thoughts have come to be seen as some kind of beacon. Presumably because the rest of the world, online and off, has gone so fucking mental.
So how come I read this whole thing, you might reasonably ask? Simple. It was in a Humble Bundle with a bunch of stuff I did want. It's acceptable to carry your smartphone (with reader apps) in contexts where a book or newspaper might attract opprobrium. And these entries are mostly of the perfect size and density for reading on a loo break.
*I could quibble with his very qualified defence of Ayn Rand, but that's more a matter of our taste in potboilers differing, and her other fans generally being fruitloops more prone to taking her seriously in inappropriate contexts than eg enthusiasts for my own preferred opiate, Wodehouse. But the one moment where I was really taken aback came when he described Stephen Fry as being as smart as any six of the rest of us. Now, I have no time whatsoever for the idea that Fry is "a stupid person's idea of a clever person" - a classic case of Ironic Review bullshit. But six times smarter? Seriously?
June 30, 2020
At this point, I’ve read far more of Scalzi’s blog posts than his fiction. His first blog post collection, Your Hate Mail will be Graded, was the first thing I ever read by him. I don’t remember why my path to Scalzi looks like this, but after reading this more recent collection, I’m putting him on my list of Favorite People I Don’t Actually Know.
Not all the posts are equally interesting to me personally—it’s a long book—but I enjoyed his writing throughout, even in the posts that were timely back between 2008 and 2012 but are old news now.
Scalzi strikes me as very fair-minded and logical. That, combined with the fact he has a sense of humor I like and makes regular, sweet references to his wife and daughter, made this collection a winner for me.
I recommend this to fans of Scalzi’s fiction, blog or tweets, but also to people who’ve never tried him before. He writes about anything and everything, and he’s quite good at it.
Not all the posts are equally interesting to me personally—it’s a long book—but I enjoyed his writing throughout, even in the posts that were timely back between 2008 and 2012 but are old news now.
Scalzi strikes me as very fair-minded and logical. That, combined with the fact he has a sense of humor I like and makes regular, sweet references to his wife and daughter, made this collection a winner for me.
I recommend this to fans of Scalzi’s fiction, blog or tweets, but also to people who’ve never tried him before. He writes about anything and everything, and he’s quite good at it.
December 18, 2020
This isn’t life-changing nonfiction, but it’s a good collection of well thought-out blog posts filled with John Scalzi’s signature good-natured snark. If you are a fan of his and are familiar with events in American politics, the writing and science fiction communities, and fandom from 2008-2012, The Mallet is worth reading. I only have two gripes:
1. The gripe that is not the author’s or the editor’s fault: There are more articles about the 2008 and 2012 elections than I really cared about. Some of them are great, like Scalzi’s assertion that Barack Obama’s re-election was more historically important than his election. There are a lot, though, that were written in reaction to specific candidates in primaries and things they did, and eight years later, I just don’t really care about Rick Santorum or Rick Perry anymore. I didn’t really care about those guys by the time this book was even published.
2. The gripe that is totally the editor’s fault: There is no organization to how the blog entries are sequenced. They’re not put in chronological order or grouped by topic or anything; they’re just placed wherever. This issue is especially jarring when two related articles are not together in the book. One of the more thought-provoking pieces on internet/blogging culture deals with whether a person is fair game to write about based on how public a figure they are and what the nature of the action in question was. Scalzi wrote this article as a follow-up on a post where he criticized Kirk Cameron for some homophobic thing he put online. That article is probably 30 pages *after* the one that was specifically written as a follow-up to it. Really bizarre.
1. The gripe that is not the author’s or the editor’s fault: There are more articles about the 2008 and 2012 elections than I really cared about. Some of them are great, like Scalzi’s assertion that Barack Obama’s re-election was more historically important than his election. There are a lot, though, that were written in reaction to specific candidates in primaries and things they did, and eight years later, I just don’t really care about Rick Santorum or Rick Perry anymore. I didn’t really care about those guys by the time this book was even published.
2. The gripe that is totally the editor’s fault: There is no organization to how the blog entries are sequenced. They’re not put in chronological order or grouped by topic or anything; they’re just placed wherever. This issue is especially jarring when two related articles are not together in the book. One of the more thought-provoking pieces on internet/blogging culture deals with whether a person is fair game to write about based on how public a figure they are and what the nature of the action in question was. Scalzi wrote this article as a follow-up on a post where he criticized Kirk Cameron for some homophobic thing he put online. That article is probably 30 pages *after* the one that was specifically written as a follow-up to it. Really bizarre.
March 28, 2020
It's been a while since I've read any of Scalzi's books/writing. It's funny that I was introduced to his work through his blog around a decade back and remember some of the entries in this selection. I don't think I was ever devout enough to read all the posts of his blog but lurked enough to enjoy a lot of it. I can say the same for several entries in this book. Scalzi's style is engaging, opinionated, sharp and topical. It was interesting to walk through the years leading up to the first Obama election and then his incumbency. Scalzi writes about McCain, Romney, Ryan, Gingrich and the rest that comprised the ragged mob of the Republicans of the time through the lens of an independent voter who definitely leaned closer to the left on most issues of the time. His pieces on writing, life in general and the manner in which he deals with and thinks through the process of argumentation or discourse are all a joy in their own ways.
August 9, 2022
selected posts of John Scalzi's blog "Whatever" from 2008-2012
most of the old American politics did not interest me at all. Too old, and am not in the USA.
others, tributes to people who have helped him, in his career, were more interesting, but still meh.
most of the old American politics did not interest me at all. Too old, and am not in the USA.
others, tributes to people who have helped him, in his career, were more interesting, but still meh.
July 16, 2019
I wrote a review then managed to lose it when trying to sort out duplicate editions on Goodreads ...
January 3, 2020
28 - 2020
March 5, 2025
great book, this is for accesibility ttsh. yted
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
March 5, 2025
this book was dope
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
April 18, 2025
An interesting and eclectic collection of Scalzi's blog articles over the course of four years (2008-2012). It led me to subscribe to his blog. I will be reading his other collections, as well.
October 9, 2016
Science fiction author John Scalzi is a popular blogger; dipping into his back posts is often entertaining. However, reading the political posts centering around the 2008 and 2012 elections, and key moments in Obama's presidency, seem almost impossibly distant with the 2016 election shortly upon us.
September 25, 2013
I first encountered John Scalzi's writing, and his blog Whatever, when he published a brilliantly scathing, incisive, laugh-until-you-choke-hilarious critique of the contracts being offered to authors by several Random House imprints. I immediately started tracking down Scalzi's science fiction, because (a) I read a lot of science fiction, and (b) I figured that anything else this fellow wrote would probably be worth reading. I also started following Whatever, as well as Scalzi's Twitter feed. And I've had no regrets. So when The Mallet of Loving Correction came out as an affordable ebook, I grabbed it.
For whatever reasons, Scalzi's blog has not been especially political since I began following it (unless one characterizes his concern for addressing sexual harassment at science fiction conventions as political). So I wasn't quite prepared for how many of the columns in this collection concern electoral politics. As it happens, while my political views overlap with Scalzi's, I disagree with him in a number of areas, on points where he makes plain that anyone with my views can't possibly have any functional intellectual capacity. That's his privilege -- but as he points out in some parallel contexts, his freedom to say what he wants doesn't preclude me from reacting to it. (He also makes a factual error or two, e.g., about the political views that members of the Tea Party are and aren't likely to hold.)
A few of these columns also toss out accusations that this or that group of folks are lying to the public, and Scalzi doesn't bother to provide corroboration. Again, he doesn't have to -- he's writing a blog, not taking an exam. But in some of those instances, if he happened to want to convince readers of my general stripe, he'd need to do more.
That said, the columns in this collection are generally well written, sometimes beautifully written, and many are thought-provoking or moving or both. And quite a few are funny, though none come close to the column I mentioned at the start of this review. The next collection may be better, in part because I'm betting "A Contract From Alibi" will be in it. But the current collection may well be worth your time and money -- depending, in part, on your politics and your blood pressure.
For whatever reasons, Scalzi's blog has not been especially political since I began following it (unless one characterizes his concern for addressing sexual harassment at science fiction conventions as political). So I wasn't quite prepared for how many of the columns in this collection concern electoral politics. As it happens, while my political views overlap with Scalzi's, I disagree with him in a number of areas, on points where he makes plain that anyone with my views can't possibly have any functional intellectual capacity. That's his privilege -- but as he points out in some parallel contexts, his freedom to say what he wants doesn't preclude me from reacting to it. (He also makes a factual error or two, e.g., about the political views that members of the Tea Party are and aren't likely to hold.)
A few of these columns also toss out accusations that this or that group of folks are lying to the public, and Scalzi doesn't bother to provide corroboration. Again, he doesn't have to -- he's writing a blog, not taking an exam. But in some of those instances, if he happened to want to convince readers of my general stripe, he'd need to do more.
That said, the columns in this collection are generally well written, sometimes beautifully written, and many are thought-provoking or moving or both. And quite a few are funny, though none come close to the column I mentioned at the start of this review. The next collection may be better, in part because I'm betting "A Contract From Alibi" will be in it. But the current collection may well be worth your time and money -- depending, in part, on your politics and your blood pressure.
April 28, 2015
So it looks like my review was eaten by the ever-hungry denizens of the Inter-Internet, the Place Between Internets, the Void Between Bits. Here’s the concise version:
1. my impression of the author, after reading his book and having recently started following his blog on, well, his blog: smart, funny, thoughtful, critical, considerate.
2. what I liked about this book: his perspective on life and other stuff (including, but not limited to: love, politics, being considerate of other people, life advice on managing your finances, writing).
3. what I didn’t like: it seemed to me like the vast majority of the book was about politics, the worst kind of politics in fact – past politics. While Scalzi’s coverage of the last two presidential elections in the US was entertaining enough, it was old news. It probably worked better on his blog as immediate reactions to stuff that was happening at the time.
4. special award for heartwarmingness: posts about Scalzi’s marriage and him meeting his wife, his letter to his daughter.
5. the ebook version is absolutely atrocious by the way: no table of contents and no separate sections for the blog posts makes navigating through the book all but impossible. If you want to find any particular post, you will have better luck just going to Scalzi’s blog and browsing the archives. Maybe it was just a ploy to drive traffic to his website? In that case: damn you, John Scalzi, you crafty bastard.
1. my impression of the author, after reading his book and having recently started following his blog on, well, his blog: smart, funny, thoughtful, critical, considerate.
2. what I liked about this book: his perspective on life and other stuff (including, but not limited to: love, politics, being considerate of other people, life advice on managing your finances, writing).
3. what I didn’t like: it seemed to me like the vast majority of the book was about politics, the worst kind of politics in fact – past politics. While Scalzi’s coverage of the last two presidential elections in the US was entertaining enough, it was old news. It probably worked better on his blog as immediate reactions to stuff that was happening at the time.
4. special award for heartwarmingness: posts about Scalzi’s marriage and him meeting his wife, his letter to his daughter.
5. the ebook version is absolutely atrocious by the way: no table of contents and no separate sections for the blog posts makes navigating through the book all but impossible. If you want to find any particular post, you will have better luck just going to Scalzi’s blog and browsing the archives. Maybe it was just a ploy to drive traffic to his website? In that case: damn you, John Scalzi, you crafty bastard.
December 27, 2016
I enjoy John Scalzi's blog tremendously, and this covers select entries from 2008 - 2012, before I was a regular reader. Scalzi's posts are well thought out, informative, insightful, touching, and hilarious; often all at the same time. I only have two minor quibbles, which are as follows.
For a collection called "The Mallet of Loving Correction", which is Scalzi's term for when he "mallets" unruly comments out of existence, I thought there might be more of a focus on the comments themselves. Show us the most insightful comments from readers, or the most absurd comments Scalzi had to use the titular mallet on. Instead, all we get are the original posts, which are great, but you could read them straight from the archives. With this collection I was hoping for something extra.
The entries are, clearly, a bit dated. That's no fault of Scalzi's, of course, but it sometimes caused a disconnect with me as the reader. On the one hand, it's amusing to read Scalzi kvetch about Mitt Romney in the lead up to the 2012 election. It's less amusing when, after Obama's 2012 victory, Scalzi opines that the Republican party in its current form is finished; and that they'll need to get rid of the extremists and become more tolerant or they'll never win another presidential election, so.... Well. Scalzi never claimed to be a prophet.
For a collection called "The Mallet of Loving Correction", which is Scalzi's term for when he "mallets" unruly comments out of existence, I thought there might be more of a focus on the comments themselves. Show us the most insightful comments from readers, or the most absurd comments Scalzi had to use the titular mallet on. Instead, all we get are the original posts, which are great, but you could read them straight from the archives. With this collection I was hoping for something extra.
The entries are, clearly, a bit dated. That's no fault of Scalzi's, of course, but it sometimes caused a disconnect with me as the reader. On the one hand, it's amusing to read Scalzi kvetch about Mitt Romney in the lead up to the 2012 election. It's less amusing when, after Obama's 2012 victory, Scalzi opines that the Republican party in its current form is finished; and that they'll need to get rid of the extremists and become more tolerant or they'll never win another presidential election, so.... Well. Scalzi never claimed to be a prophet.
July 13, 2015
I bought this a few months ago as part of a Humble ebook Bundle.
Full disclosure: I only read a few of these essays (blog posts) so I cannot comment on the book in its entirety. What I read though I strongly disliked. Mr Scalzi may think he is amusing but insulting everyone who doesn't share his particular views or brand of politics, especially in the manner in which he does it seems in quite poor taste.
Over the last few years I've grown to appreciate the different perspectives or moral axes people approach things from. Mr Scalzi apparently does not in this book. You are of questionable intellect if you don't buy into his views. He may be able to apply his "mallet" to those disagreeing with him on his blog, but I'm free to voice my own disgust here. I found little of edification here and a lot of sarcasm and belittling, and I don't need that.
I greatly appreciate people like Russ Roberts, who can talk to someone of just about any political or economic views and find something to learn from then and benefit from the conversation. People like Correia or Scalzi are sometimes enjoyable to read (if you agree with them on the issue), but there's very little besides bashing the other side going on.
Full disclosure: I only read a few of these essays (blog posts) so I cannot comment on the book in its entirety. What I read though I strongly disliked. Mr Scalzi may think he is amusing but insulting everyone who doesn't share his particular views or brand of politics, especially in the manner in which he does it seems in quite poor taste.
Over the last few years I've grown to appreciate the different perspectives or moral axes people approach things from. Mr Scalzi apparently does not in this book. You are of questionable intellect if you don't buy into his views. He may be able to apply his "mallet" to those disagreeing with him on his blog, but I'm free to voice my own disgust here. I found little of edification here and a lot of sarcasm and belittling, and I don't need that.
I greatly appreciate people like Russ Roberts, who can talk to someone of just about any political or economic views and find something to learn from then and benefit from the conversation. People like Correia or Scalzi are sometimes enjoyable to read (if you agree with them on the issue), but there's very little besides bashing the other side going on.
October 18, 2013
The Mallet of Loving Correction is a second collection of blog postings from John Scalzi’s well-known blog, the Whatever. Scalzi’s previous collection, Your Hate Mail will be Graded, won a Hugo.
Before I comment on the content of the “Mallet”, I just want to say that in addition to his Hugos and his Nebulas and countless other awards, Scalzi should win some kind of prize just for his industriousness. He publishes several works of prose, both fiction and non-fiction, a year; he assertively markets his work; he participates actively in Science Fiction/Fantasy Writers of America (SFWA) and he moderates his blog, often with a metaphorical mallet (the “mallet of loving correction” in the title). How does he do it?
The Mallet of Loving Correction contains posts from 2008 through 2012. The posts are not listed in chronological order be... Read More::
http://www.fantasyliterature.com/revi...
Before I comment on the content of the “Mallet”, I just want to say that in addition to his Hugos and his Nebulas and countless other awards, Scalzi should win some kind of prize just for his industriousness. He publishes several works of prose, both fiction and non-fiction, a year; he assertively markets his work; he participates actively in Science Fiction/Fantasy Writers of America (SFWA) and he moderates his blog, often with a metaphorical mallet (the “mallet of loving correction” in the title). How does he do it?
The Mallet of Loving Correction contains posts from 2008 through 2012. The posts are not listed in chronological order be... Read More::
http://www.fantasyliterature.com/revi...
December 14, 2013
Much of this book I read in the original blog posts on Whatever, but they are just as entertaining the second time. Scalzi's collection runs the gamut from political observations (especially about the 2012 election) to his now-infamous 'Straight White Males are the lowest Difficulty Setting' essay, which is a remarkably strong metaphor, even if we straight white males don't want to admit it. The writing is very informal and friendly, and there are lots of nuggets spread throughout. It's in bite size portions so was great to read in spread out format. My only issue is that the order of the essays was fairly random - predominantly in alphabetical order, which means you're bouncing through the four year period, which on the political topics especially is a little disconcerting. But that's a minor nitpick to what was a very enjoyable read.
August 21, 2015
Readers of John Scalzi's Whatever blog will be well familiar with the themes and topics covered in this book. Indeed, the essays that comprise the book were pulled from thousands of blog posts written by Scalzi over the years and collected here with such annotations and context as required.
Having said that, reading this book in 2015 was one part re-visiting fun, engaging essays I had read some years before, and one part skimming over half-remembered political scandals and election cycles that, frankly, I'm far too glad to see in the rearview to truly enjoy re-reading in any depth.
Much like the previous collection, Your Hate Mail Will be Graded, this is a handsome, well put-together edition that's good for collector's, completists, historians, and people who like really thick, heavy books up on the shelves. Recommended.
Having said that, reading this book in 2015 was one part re-visiting fun, engaging essays I had read some years before, and one part skimming over half-remembered political scandals and election cycles that, frankly, I'm far too glad to see in the rearview to truly enjoy re-reading in any depth.
Much like the previous collection, Your Hate Mail Will be Graded, this is a handsome, well put-together edition that's good for collector's, completists, historians, and people who like really thick, heavy books up on the shelves. Recommended.
February 6, 2017
I enjoyed this pretty much. I haven't been a big fan of Scalzi although I read a few of his books and liked them well enough. I'll even read more. But so far he has not made me feel I needed to wait eagerly for his next book to come out.
This book nudged me closer to being a fan. It's an assemblage of posts he made to his blog, which apparently is/was called "Whatever." Funny, snarky stiff, well worth the time to read. I few passages worth highlighting and one or two articles worth taking wholesale.
But there's no real sequence to the thing, and quite a bit of it is about politics from 2008 - 2012, so it feels quite dated.
Nevertheless, a fun little ebook to read here and there now and again.
This book nudged me closer to being a fan. It's an assemblage of posts he made to his blog, which apparently is/was called "Whatever." Funny, snarky stiff, well worth the time to read. I few passages worth highlighting and one or two articles worth taking wholesale.
But there's no real sequence to the thing, and quite a bit of it is about politics from 2008 - 2012, so it feels quite dated.
Nevertheless, a fun little ebook to read here and there now and again.
December 24, 2015
Another collection of Whatever posts, oddly enough alphabetical by title rather than by subject or chronology. Given that a lot of the political posts got selected, this gets a touch confusing. This "Greatest Hits" format is a fun way to revisit the blog, and it's almost better without the temptation to page through the comments, but there's little new material or commentary. I don't actually chase these books down; they come along in bundles with other things. I think I now own this twice and You're Not Fooling Anybody about three times, but haven't fallen into a copy of Hate Mail.
October 5, 2013
I first became aware of John Scalzi when his name came up a number of years back in the foofraw over the woman selling her Star Wars fanfic on Amazon. I looked him up, found his blog, which led to his fiction, and have been a fan ever since.
THE MALLET OF LOVING CORRECTION collects writings from his blog. He covers a wide range of topics from writing, his and others, politics, religion, life, family, and any number of other topics. Sometimes humorous, sometimes serious, never boring.
Recommended.
THE MALLET OF LOVING CORRECTION collects writings from his blog. He covers a wide range of topics from writing, his and others, politics, religion, life, family, and any number of other topics. Sometimes humorous, sometimes serious, never boring.
Recommended.
April 11, 2014
I love John Scalzi whether it be fiction or nonfiction. I like his blog, but often miss entries due to my own attention span. This is the second collection of his blog posts, and it was great to catch up. I liked "Your Hate Mail Will be Graded" a bit better, but you just can't go wrong here. When a person's view of life is so similar to your own and they can put it into language that is poignant, persuasive and damn funny what more can you want.
August 1, 2014
If I had to choose between Mallet of Loving Correction and Your Hate Mail Will be Graded, I'd go with Hate Mail every time. That is not to say this isn't a delightful collection of some of Scalzi's best blog entries, but I found myself skimming several of the election-focused articles, of which there were many.
Totally worth the price as an ebook, majorly worth it for a library check-out.
Totally worth the price as an ebook, majorly worth it for a library check-out.
May 11, 2015
As an anthology of Scalzi's prior blog posts, this made a highly enjoyable read (especially since I hadn't religiously read the posts in the past).
Having said that, the decision to structure the entries in alphabetical order made for an odd reading process - it was an interesting experience and I can see why he wouldn't want to go chronologically, but I do wish there was an attempt for a more thematic structure.
Having said that, the decision to structure the entries in alphabetical order made for an odd reading process - it was an interesting experience and I can see why he wouldn't want to go chronologically, but I do wish there was an attempt for a more thematic structure.
September 8, 2015
If you enjoy Scalzi's fiction works and particularly if you follow his blog, you will enjoy this book. Otherwise it probably won't interest you. The entries about presidential elections were interesting from a historical point of view, but my favorite parts were the entries about Scalzi honing his writing technique.
Sometimes I have to work to get into Scalzi's writing "voice" in his novels because it's a little too chummy and casual. That voice works great for the blog entries, though.
Sometimes I have to work to get into Scalzi's writing "voice" in his novels because it's a little too chummy and casual. That voice works great for the blog entries, though.
June 19, 2016
This is the second selection of posts from Scalzi's blog that was in the Subterranean Scalzi Super Bundle, the other one being "You're Not Fooling Anyone When You Take Your Laptop to a Coffee Shop: Scalzi on Writing". I've enjoyed that one (even though I'm far from the target audience).
This, however, gave me nothing. Most of it was on topics, events or people I know nothing about, and I don't care. In the end I've skipped most of it.
This, however, gave me nothing. Most of it was on topics, events or people I know nothing about, and I don't care. In the end I've skipped most of it.
January 27, 2018
Reading this can be somewhat depressing, but just with the bits talking about elections and Obama, and how the Democrats have the vote from then on because of demographic changes.
Nonetheless, I like reading Scalzi's blog, so I like this book, too.
I actually haven't read his fiction yet, even though I do have his Redshirts...
Nonetheless, I like reading Scalzi's blog, so I like this book, too.
I actually haven't read his fiction yet, even though I do have his Redshirts...
September 22, 2013
This arrived just this afternoon, since then I've been flitting through it - a story here, a story there. It's one of those books that I will keep coming back to until I realise I have in fact read it completely. At that point I will convince myself otherwise & promptly start re-reading it. Why? Honestly, why not?! It's much easier than scrolling through Whatever :)
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