For Bernard Kobes
A book review I chanced to see
Of cutting-edge philosophy,
Four hundred pages, more or less,
Of essays about "fittingness"
AKA "normativity".
The wise reviewer starts by writing
That the book is way exciting
However, he dilutes this praise
By noting that the English phrase
"Exciting book" does not imply
"A book folks are excited by".
Unless I miscontrue his claim*
If everyone that you could name
From Socrates to Auntie Mame
Had found this learned volume tame
Insipid, tedious, and lame,
The word might "fit" it all the same.
I fear these essays will not fit
My taste in reading. Now I'll quit.
* James Fritz writes in his review: "What is it for a book to be exciting? It can’t just be that the book actually causes or is likely to cause excitement: a book might be exciting even if it’s clearly destined to garner no interest."
This is part of the collection Verses for the Information Age by Ernest Davis