IMO it’s way better to give someone a book they won’t read than any other object they won’t use, except say, art (great, but riskiest tho) so unless you really know what to get, book is strong default

Never ever ask about it afterwards. And if they regift, great! Your gift was saving them a gift.

"Gosh, Scoobs. This place is kinda [gulp] spooky!"
"[Trembling] Rrr-ugh rrr-ooo!"
"Don't worry, fellas: groundskeeper Reinhard Mohn said he just hasn't gotten around to cleaning out the cobwebs today. Now, where do we drop off our manuscript?"

Thinking—intelligence, not mere the holding of information—happens between you and other people.

We have ways to approximate or simulate this sort of interaction with others—internal dialogue, external dialogue (e.g. Rubber Duck), writing—but it's fundamentally social, interactive.

Sincerest form of flattery

Related, this visualization of the Big Five Publishers in the US is quite tidy and easy to browse.

almossawi.com/big-five-pub...

Yeah, that makes sense. Thanks for the help with that.

Uh, so the brand is in "Creative House #2" but the remake…?

I know everybody wants to feel optimistic about Carney, Macron, Merz et al talking about a new post-RBIO system, but remember that they’re only panicking now because the structural barbarism is banging on their own doors. They don’t want to remedy it; just sustain its redirection.

IMO, less of a mask than an inevitability. The obsessive, fanatical, fantastic—a mark for both products.