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Double Happiness
In this bitingly witty book, Joe Bennett lays bare the techniques behind bullshit and how it has become so ingrained in our everyday lives we can barely recognize it.
Bullshit has always been with us but as a result of the proliferation of media in the last century we are now awash with it, drowning in it. It has become so accepted a part of the human landscape that bullshitters can not only make a living from bullshit and achieve power, prestige and wealth - they can even win prizes for it. Unironic prizes. Bullshit seems to be fundamental to human society. If we were to strip bullshit from our conversations, our televisions, newspapers and airwaves, we would barely recognise what remained. the aim of this book is to unpack examples of bullshit from our everyday life and lay bare the techniques behind it. these techniques are surprisingly simple. there are two possible consequences of this exposure. One is that bullshit will be laughed out of existence forever. the other is that bullshit will continue to proliferate. Regardless of the outcome, anyone who reads this book will at least be able to identify exactly how they are having bullshit foisted upon them, even while they continue to fall for it.
Bullshit has always been with us but as a result of the proliferation of media in the last century we are now awash with it, drowning in it. It has become so accepted a part of the human landscape that bullshitters can not only make a living from bullshit and achieve power, prestige and wealth - they can even win prizes for it. Unironic prizes. Bullshit seems to be fundamental to human society. If we were to strip bullshit from our conversations, our televisions, newspapers and airwaves, we would barely recognise what remained. the aim of this book is to unpack examples of bullshit from our everyday life and lay bare the techniques behind it. these techniques are surprisingly simple. there are two possible consequences of this exposure. One is that bullshit will be laughed out of existence forever. the other is that bullshit will continue to proliferate. Regardless of the outcome, anyone who reads this book will at least be able to identify exactly how they are having bullshit foisted upon them, even while they continue to fall for it.
- GenresNonfiction
240 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 2012
3 people are currently reading
29 people want to read
About the author
Joe Bennett
26 books19 followersLibrarian Note: There is more than one author in the GoodReads database with this name.
Julian "Joe" Bennett (born 20 April 1957) is a writer and columnist living in Lyttelton, New Zealand.
Born in England, he emigrated to New Zealand when he was twenty-nine. Bennett is a columnist for Christchurch's newspaper The Press and the author of several books.
Julian "Joe" Bennett (born 20 April 1957) is a writer and columnist living in Lyttelton, New Zealand.
Born in England, he emigrated to New Zealand when he was twenty-nine. Bennett is a columnist for Christchurch's newspaper The Press and the author of several books.
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Displaying 1 - 8 of 8 reviews
December 11, 2012
I laughed a lot at Mr Bennett's observations. A very good light read.
November 4, 2016
Very straightforward about poor state of media truthfulness, but you need to understand a little of the New Zealand dialect, since that's where the author writes his newspaper columns.
September 2, 2020
An excellent and poignant insight into the absolute bullshit that makes up religion, politics and commercial interests
January 25, 2013
'It is the gulf between the fantasy and the reality, between a synthetic heaven and an actual earth.' Joe Bennett
I'm will not attempt to criticise Joe Bennett. He's a smart man. I'm familiar witnessing him as a column writer for many papers across NZ. He's featured on Moon TV wherein he bears the brunt of a comedy sketch involving mockery of all things books along with Leigh Hart who dominates NZ comedy. His style of writing in this book suits my reasonable mood. Bullshit. One of my favourite expletives. Bennett although not telling us anything we did not already know tells us how we're taken for fools by all things manipulative, in the home and out of the home at our cost.
Conflation: How we associate a celebrity along with a brand. I can think of Jaguar associating Lana Del Rey recently. Sexy car, sexy voice. People who drive Jaguar are therefore sexy. In reality, a man who drives a Jag may be pompous, overweight and bald. Deep in his air-conditioned psyche though, he is sexy in his car. Chicks dig an older, overweight man in a Jaguar, right! Bennett mentions Clooney and Rolex and Tiger Woods and something else. The manipulation doesn't work on me, fools.
Religion: Bennett's views ring true to my own on this subject. That's all I have to say. It's timely to use the word Bullshit again.
Disneyfication: The lies we were told as children from our family and other perps in positions of Noddy power. Stuffed predatory toys were my favourite I have to admit. I remember my Great Aunt Sally made me an ET. ET on the screen was cute I thought. My Aunty's version wasn't cute, gawd it was ugly. It scared the children and Mrs Doubtfire. Bennett uses an example of a puppy dog with bathroom paper. The puppy never ages. We pray victim to its cuteness with our emotional Disney minds. This is true. We associate the cute emotion with the product. Reality. Paper. Poo. Arse. Wipe. Bullshit.
Politics: John Donkey or John Key as he's affectionately known. The PM of NZ. I know little of this man, I've been away for most of his term. Reading that he used the All Blacks as a voting motive for the populace comes as no surprise. NZ cream themselves over the All Blacks. It's vomit inducing. You don't have to be an abortion scientist to figure out why he dry-humped the squad of 15. The nation fell for it too. Sport. All encompassing Men. Vomit.
There is more to raise and talk about. I'm not inspired to talk anymore as I'm fairly familiar with Bullshit and Bullshitters. If you want to know more, read it. An easy read and a few mediocre LOLZ to be had.
I'm will not attempt to criticise Joe Bennett. He's a smart man. I'm familiar witnessing him as a column writer for many papers across NZ. He's featured on Moon TV wherein he bears the brunt of a comedy sketch involving mockery of all things books along with Leigh Hart who dominates NZ comedy. His style of writing in this book suits my reasonable mood. Bullshit. One of my favourite expletives. Bennett although not telling us anything we did not already know tells us how we're taken for fools by all things manipulative, in the home and out of the home at our cost.
Conflation: How we associate a celebrity along with a brand. I can think of Jaguar associating Lana Del Rey recently. Sexy car, sexy voice. People who drive Jaguar are therefore sexy. In reality, a man who drives a Jag may be pompous, overweight and bald. Deep in his air-conditioned psyche though, he is sexy in his car. Chicks dig an older, overweight man in a Jaguar, right! Bennett mentions Clooney and Rolex and Tiger Woods and something else. The manipulation doesn't work on me, fools.
Religion: Bennett's views ring true to my own on this subject. That's all I have to say. It's timely to use the word Bullshit again.
Disneyfication: The lies we were told as children from our family and other perps in positions of Noddy power. Stuffed predatory toys were my favourite I have to admit. I remember my Great Aunt Sally made me an ET. ET on the screen was cute I thought. My Aunty's version wasn't cute, gawd it was ugly. It scared the children and Mrs Doubtfire. Bennett uses an example of a puppy dog with bathroom paper. The puppy never ages. We pray victim to its cuteness with our emotional Disney minds. This is true. We associate the cute emotion with the product. Reality. Paper. Poo. Arse. Wipe. Bullshit.
Politics: John Donkey or John Key as he's affectionately known. The PM of NZ. I know little of this man, I've been away for most of his term. Reading that he used the All Blacks as a voting motive for the populace comes as no surprise. NZ cream themselves over the All Blacks. It's vomit inducing. You don't have to be an abortion scientist to figure out why he dry-humped the squad of 15. The nation fell for it too. Sport. All encompassing Men. Vomit.
There is more to raise and talk about. I'm not inspired to talk anymore as I'm fairly familiar with Bullshit and Bullshitters. If you want to know more, read it. An easy read and a few mediocre LOLZ to be had.
May 14, 2014
Much of the material in this book is known to those who don't take the commercial and political worlds for granted. However, it is good to be reminded from time to time about how we are manipulated in our affluent society. Joe Bennett's wit is incisive and the book a good read. Joe Bennett came to Wanganui New Zealand and spoke at our literary festival last year. It was a real performance, amusing, informative and thought-provoking. I am a fan, Joe!
May 12, 2013
This book gives you an understanding of how we the masses are manipulated by spin doctors. Very witty writer.
December 26, 2013
Amusing, but nothing new.
April 14, 2017
This is an excellent read! Again Bennett is on stomping form, you can just hear him ranting and raving from the pages, ready and willing to take on the next batch of BS that comes his way. Bennett speaks as well as anyone on contemporary culture, but because he happens to reside on the wrong side of the world, he doesn't get half as much credit as he truly deserves. This book is bursting with some wonderfully prescient and cutting insight and the section on conflation was my personal favourite as he destroys myth after myth, flying the flag for intelligence and reason.
Displaying 1 - 8 of 8 reviews