Spurious

When it’s more than a mere parlor game, parody is a symptom of healthy irreverence. Take Spurious, an anonymous blog by someone possibly named Lars (perfect) who writes prolifically about nothing. With pitch-perfect precision, the author captures the pretentiousness and narcissism, the mind-numbing emptiness and self-regard, of trendy adepts of postmodernism. He drops all the right names – Blanchot, Lacan, you know the others – and even the blog photo, of a woman with messy hair and avian features, says: “I’m among the chosen and you’re not.” On Tuesday, I was pleased to learn I’m not alone in my appreciation of Lars’ deadly wit. Mary Jackson at The Iconoclast, the community blog of the New English Review, shared her enthusiasm for Spurious. Thank you, Mary, and thank you, Lars, for reminding me to take myself a little less seriously.