Justifying Lying and Failing At It

For John, BLUF:  Sort of like Payola.  Nothing to see here; just move along.

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Last week in the New York Times "Week in Review" was an opinion piece by Professor Clancy Martin, headlined "Good Lovers Lie".  I don't believe he sells his thesis, but maybe it is about selling his book, Love and Lies.

Interestingly, a review of his book, "‘Love and Lies,’ by Clancy Martin", appeared the same day in The New York Times Book Review.  I believe the Reviewer, Novelist Adelle Waldman, had the same view of the book I did.

...a new and remarkably insight-free book of self-reflection by the novelist and philosophy professor Clancy Martin.

I glommed onto this paragraph:

Think of the dozens of lies you tell your children (or your parents told you) in order to help them believe in themselves:  “You can be whatever you want to be.”  “Life gets easier.”

I don't think of these as lies.  They are the attempts of parents to help children set goals.  The odds are good you can be whatever you want to be, but not everything you want to be.  This is encouragement.  It does not fall into the same category as what is covered a few paragraphs down, where he talks about cheating on his second wife.  That deception and lying is not nearly the same as promising your child he or she should have dreams and they will come true.

This is not a book or an article I would recommend.

What I would recommend is The New York Times not allow this kind of arrangement, where the author of a book being reviewed gets to write a self-promoting OpEd, especially not in the same edition of the paper.

Regards  —  Cliff