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Title: Unpleasantly Surprised
Review: While I'll concede that this book gives a nifty introduction to the tenets of Taoism by means of the extended Pooh analogy, the manner in which the author achieves this is downright dogmatic. You can't read a full page without him openly denouncing other belief systems, and his overly contemptuous attitude towards intellectualism is alarming. He portrays anybody who values the beauty of complexity or academics as a close-minded, arrogant bookworm, and grossly misrepresents the followers of various religions/faiths. Hoff definitely borders on the fanatical here, using far-reaching comparisons to make his offensive points, many of which don't even align with the true characteristics of Taoism. Jumping to conclusions and articulating uneducated descriptions regarding many aspects of contemporary culture and scholarship, I'm certain that Hoff has Lao Tzu turning over in his grave at his downright hateful quasi-environmentalist commentary. Don't waste your time with this book.
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