I’ve read Brian Doherty’s book Radicals for Capitalism cover-to-cover. I’ve blogged on it and taken part in an online debate occasioned by the book. (Note that the back-and-forth is in “The Conversation.”)
So I know something about the book. Today’s New York Times carries a review. I don’t expect reviewers to applaud every book and I certainly don’t expect them to agree with the author’s substantive views. But I also don’t expect a smear job, which is what David Leonhardt delivered in “Free for All.” My colleague David Boaz does a thorough job of responding to the smears in “NYT Clueless on Libertarianism.”
That was stunningly bad, even after the expectation your intro provided. It’s as though he skimmed the book and then used fragments of it to dress up some of the cocktail party tales he’s heard about libertarians over the years. I suspect he didn’t read the whole thing…
I haven’t looked at Boaz’s response but that review is almost as bad as Whitaker Chamber’s review of Atlas Shrugged.
New libertarian party game:
Fill in the blank: NYT Clueless on_____________.