Ebook: Snark

What is snark? You recognize it when you see it -- a tone of teasing, snide, undermining abuse, nasty and knowing, that is spreading like pinkeye through the media and threatening to take over how Americans converse with each other and what they can count on as true. Snark attempts to steal someone's mojo, erase her cool, annihilate her effectiveness. In this sharp and witty polemic, -- New York Times Denby has fun snarking the snarkers, expelling the bums and promoting the true wits, but he is also making a serious point: the Internet has put snark on steroids. In politics, snark means the lowest, most insinuating and insulting side can win. For the young, a savage piece of gossip could ruin a reputation and possibly a future career. And for all of us, snark just sucks the humor out of life. Denby defends the right of any of us to be cruel, but shows us how the real pros pull it off. Snark, he says, is for the amateurs.;Cover; Colophon; ALSO BY DAVID DENBY; Title Page; Copyright; Dedication; Epigraph; Author's Note; Contents; The First Fit: The Republic of Snark; The Second Fit: A Brief, Highly Intermittent History of Snark, Part 1; The Third Fit: A Brief, Highly Intermittent History of Snark, Part 2; The Fourth Fit: Anatomy of a Style; The Fifth Fit: The Conscience of a Snarker; The Sixth Fit: Maureen Dowd; The Seventh Fit: What Is Not Snark; Reference List; Acknowledgments