A news report informs us that President Bush is reading Camus’ “The Stranger.” I am not certain whether this is the written form of the book or the “Classics Illustrated” version. In either event, if Bush has developed an appetite for Camus, I would like to recommend his going on to read “The Plague.” After that, he might try tackling Kafka’s works, particularly “The Trial,” for insights into his regime’s treatment of due process! Maybe the man is just looking for a few good quotations. On the other hand, his willingness to read works of greater substance than that of Bill O’Reilly, Ann Coulter, or Rush Limbaugh, may cause panic amongst conservatives, whose anti-intellectualism finds expression in the sentiment that “readin’ rots the mind.”

The Best of Butler Shaffer