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Re: Question about "The Complete Idiot's Guide to Technical Writing"
Subject:Re: Question about "The Complete Idiot's Guide to Technical Writing" From:Gene Kim-Eng <techwr -at- genek -dot- com> To:"McLauchlan, Kevin" <Kevin -dot- McLauchlan -at- safenet-inc -dot- com> Date:Tue, 21 Jun 2011 08:55:14 -0700
I think the problem with it is that there isn't enough effort at humor in
the content, or for that matter, any.
The original "idiot's guide" was the late John Muir's 1969 Volkswagen book,
and from the spelling of "compleat" in the title to the cartoon on the cover
it was obvious at first glance that in addition to whatever useful
information it contained it was going to be a funny read (as I have
mentioned previously, I have copy of this book and I've never owned a VW).
When you start a book off with a "congenially ribbing" title, what's inside
needs to be written along the same lines or the congeniality quickly
evaporates.
Gene Kim-Eng
On Tue, Jun 21, 2011 at 7:55 AM, McLauchlan, Kevin <
Kevin -dot- McLauchlan -at- safenet-inc -dot- com> wrote:
> People can go along with a congenially ribbing "dummy"
> moniker, but when it comes to calling themselves a "complete
> idiot" about something, that's where the line is drawn. They
> can call themselves that, but they won't stand for other
> people calling them that.
>
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