Reviews for Scepticism Inc

The average rating for Scepticism Inc based on 2 reviews is 3.5 stars.

Review # 1 was written on 2012-11-15 00:00:00 John Pirtle There once was a generation of writers influenced by Kurt Vonnegut. They liked short sentences. Not only that, they liked to take paragraph breaks after each sentence. Like this. As though each stand-alone sentence contained some special significance or profound wisdom nestling in the syllables. Which they didn't. ? One day, a writer who chose to publish under the name Bo Fowler appeared. For some unfathomable reason, his book was published by Vintage, a division of Random House. A major publisher. He wasn't only influenced by Kurt Vonnegut, he was convinced he was Kurt Vonnegut. He wrote silly sentences like this: I have loved two women in my long and somewhat ridiculous life. One was Kitty Fitzgerald, and one was completely nuts. He devoted whole chapters to sentences like this: Edgar Malroy always misspelt Scepticism. Whenever I pointed this out to him he would say, 'How do you know?' ? Bo Fowler studied philosophy, then later Creative Writing in East Anglia under Malcolm Bradbury. Did Malcolm Bradbury sit on top of him while teaching? This book came out in 1998. Bo thought that stringing a series of semi-comic surreal images around a wacky satirical plot made for a decent book. Random House obviously thought so too. So devoted was he to being Kurt Vonnegut, he even stole features of Kurt's writing. Features like quoting from epitaphs. And cute comic catchphrases. Like 'Aloha.' Both within the first fifteen pages. Skimming though the book, my eye also fell on the use of 'Imagine that.' Which if I'm not mistaken is direct plagiarism of Kurt Vonnegut. Imagine that! ? Bo Fowler has published three books since 1998. On his author profile he cites his influences as Richard Brautigan, Kurt Vonnegut and Fredrick Nietzsche. Is Fredrick Nietzsche related to Friedrich Nietzsche? Or was that a funny? The latest blog post from Bo showcases his side-splitting sense of humour: My wife and I took our two children to a coffee shop. My wife went to get our coffees and when she came back I asked her which one was mine. She pointed at my son Zak and said 'I'm pretty sure he is.' ? It is not my aim to persecute Bo Fowler. He is probably an amiable chap. Probably. But why, so shamelessly, ape a famous author's style? I don't think I've read a book so blatantly like Kurt Vonnegut. He does Vonnegut better than Vonnegut did at the end of his life. Ha ha. Why concentrate on surreal humour in place of the deeply moving humanist decency at the heart of Kurt's books? Why take his style, but discard his substance? Why? Perhaps this is the answer: ? Aloha!

Review # 2 was written on 2018-04-28 00:00:00 Thomas Morlock 'Scepticism Inc.' (1998) is Bo Fowler's intelligent, insightful, original, surreal, occasionally self-consciously madcap or bizarre, but very funny novel all about religion (organised or otherwise) faith and the concepts of purpose and truth. Fowler studied philosophy at University and clearly 'Scepticism Inc.' is ultimately rooted in philosophical analysis (scepticism itself of course being a philosophical school of thought). Fowler clearly knows his Nietzsche and wants to make sure that we know that too - although in the context of 'Scepticism' I'm not entirely sure what the insertion and reference to Nietzsche actually adds to the narrative - other than to demonstrate the authors' knowledge? Fowler's analysis and deconstruction of religion, faith and belief is also coupled perhaps a little clumsily with the concept of 'conscious' (i.e. Artificially Intelligent) electrical appliances. Clearly Fowler has a predetermined and ideological agenda (occasionally polemical) in the writing of 'Scepticism' and this is not a book for the religious or the devout - but then again maybe it should be? Those who are confident in their belief should clearly be completely open to critical analysis and challenging of that faith and belief system. The novel is set against the surreal backdrop of a near future society and the advent of the 'metaphysical betting shop' ('put your money where your metaphysics are' indeed). The main protagonists in 'Scepticism' being - Edgar (the agnostic/atheist and betting shop founder) Sophia (the evangelist) and the conscious shopping trolley (our narrator) and are all well drawn, interesting and engaging characters. In terms of Fowler's influences here - clearly Nietzsche as well as Vonnegut, Douglas Adams, philosophical scepticism as well as hints and echoes of 'Network' (1976 film) - particularly in the novels portrayal of the media of television hurtling completely out of control. Despite being relatively short (coming in at around 250 pages) 'Scepticism' does have a tendency towards unnecessary repetition and does feel a little overlong. This novel would have benefitted from some editing and trimming back and would have been more powerful and had more impact if shorter. Overall though and on balance, 'Scepticism' is undoubtedly a very funny, original, thought provoking, challenging, very entertaining and surprisingly accessible analysis of the role of religion and belief in society.