THE VIEW FROM HERE.
by Edward D. H. Tash

Have you seen the new book - Wine for Dummies by Ed McCathy and Mary Ewing-Mulligan. I refuse to buy it or endorse the dummy down of America.

Dr. Ruth Westheimer has even written "Sex for Dummies". Even though Dr. Ruth is a cool old lady who used to show up on Letterman and embarrass the hell out of him by saying 'orgasm'. I hope the first chapter of her book is entitled "Sterilization Improves Your Sex Life".

I'll bet that Steve Forbes is writing "Taxes for Dummies", as you read this. The man's only issue is to give himself a Big Tax Break (Money Magazine estimated that he would earn 32 MILLION DOLLARS tax free).

Bookstores now have an entire section devoted to Dummy Books, they are usually located between "Idiot's Guide To.." and "For Morons Only" sections.

While writing this column I found a Los Angeles Times editorial that stated that the "Dummies" and "Idiot's Guide" have more than 300 titles.

Now for the real reason for these ravings - Somewhere out there some bastard (or bitch) is writing or planning to write "Beer for Dummies". DON'T DO IT STUPID! The last thing that the current beer renaissance needs is a cranked-out, trendy, formulated, piece of shit about beer. The first chapter could be called "The Joy of Light".

Or maybe the book could be called "The Idiot's Guide to Beer" and have a famous bar-fly on the
cover John Ratzenberger (a.k.a. Cliff Clavin on "Cheers"). Is this really the kind of character that you would choose to represent you? Ratzenberger is a very funny actor, but we laugh at Cliff Clavin. Would you really want to sit and drink beer with him?

If you know the person planning to write this book, stop him now by driving a stake through his heart (assuming he has one) and if you are that person - you can run, but you can't hide.

The best audience is intelligent, well-educated, and a little drunk.
- Alben W. Barkely
(1877-1956)

This article was written and published before "Beer for Dummies" and "The Idiot's Guide to Beer" were. To read my "BFD" review click (here).

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