Originally Posted by KathyWdrf
And, if I may wax philosophical for a moment, I think a lot of the reason that some FTers are so uncomfortable about seeing Barton Watson exposed for what he was, is that we see something of ourselves in Barton Watson. FT unfortunately seems to encourage incredible snobbishness and elitism; there is a tendency to trash and bash service providers for any and all ridiculous and trivial reasons, to whine about not getting upgrades, to rant and rave about being left out of targeted offers, to b!tch and moan endlessly about "status dilution," etc. All of which makes us feel superior, I guess.

So maybe we're all self-important, self-deluded phonies like B Watson himself?

OK, not really, but there's at least a grain of truth there.... @:-)
Interesting point...
my objection is not to the book or to quotes or anything else like that - when Jim first posted about the book it sounded like it would have a fascinating take on someone who was clearly not what he appeared..however in going to the web site about the book, the blurbs, headings, and descriptions read like Weekly World News or The Enquirer...
And not that there isn't an Enquirer type story there for the taking - just that the OIP made it sound like a serious look at a bizarre situation...