# Brief, Brilliant, Thoughtful book: 300 Arguments by Sarah Manguso **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [March 3, 2017, 12:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/brief-brilliant-thoughtful-book-300-arguments-by-sarah-manguso/781279 "2017-03-03T12:12:28Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 15\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![WordMan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/e8c25b/32.png) [@WordMan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WordMan)\ **Post date:** [March 3, 2017, 12:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/brief-brilliant-thoughtful-book-300-arguments-by-sarah-manguso/781279/1 "2017-03-03T12:12:28Z")
Link to Amazon listing here: [300 Arguments: Essays: Manguso, Sarah: 9781555977641: Amazon.com: Books](https://www.amazon.com/300-Arguments-Essays-Sarah-Manguso/dp/1555977642) This is a small book one could carry in their pocket and may want to. It is comprised of 300 phrases of one to maybe 4 sentences. Each is form of aphorism - but not a cliche with a hint of condescension like The Early Bird Catches the Worm. These are idiosyncratic, darkly funny, wise from a place of humility. Things like: > [@](#): > > Talking with someone who reveals nothing, I hear > myself filling the emptiness with information > about myself. > [@](#): > > _If you can’t be with the one you love,_ my friend says, > _love the one who looks like the one you love._ Other > people call this having a type. It’s an expression of > grief for an original loss. > [@](#): > > My friend learns Chinese and moves to China, but > her limited vocabulary is good for grocery shopping, > not for falling in love. When her heart breaks she is > obliged to ask, _Why won’t you fuck me?_ Each works on their own. But as you read them, they collectively have an arc, a personality. She discusses why she pursues this distilled form of not-poetry vs. a long-form novels or other writing she has been steered to. She makes oblique references to having a serious illness (an immunodeficiency disease she wrote about in a memoir), then being a mother and wife. I definitely felt the 300 arguments chronicling a consciousness, an identity emerging and gaining wisdom. I suspect that a woman would find some deep truths and insights in this book and love it for reasons only available to me on the outside. But I love it for what I got out of it. Strongly recommend. Anyone else read it? ---
**Author:** ![Novelty\_Bobble](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/a3d4f5/32.png) [@Novelty\_Bobble](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Novelty_Bobble)\ **Post date:** [March 3, 2017, 2:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/brief-brilliant-thoughtful-book-300-arguments-by-sarah-manguso/781279/2 "2017-03-03T14:13:38Z")
Each to their own I guess but the ones included in your OP sound like something a pissed-off teenager would write. Those examples don’t make me want to read any further. ---
**Author:** ![Shodan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/9f8e36/32.png) [@Shodan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shodan)\ **Post date:** [March 3, 2017, 2:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/brief-brilliant-thoughtful-book-300-arguments-by-sarah-manguso/781279/3 "2017-03-03T14:13:38Z")
> [@](#): > > My friend learns Chinese and moves to China, but > her limited vocabulary is good for grocery shopping, > not for falling in love. When her heart breaks she is > obliged to ask, _Why won’t you fuck me?_ How did the check out clerk respond? Regards, Shodan ---
**Author:** ![jtur88](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/e9c0ed/32.png) [@jtur88](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jtur88)\ **Post date:** [March 3, 2017, 2:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/brief-brilliant-thoughtful-book-300-arguments-by-sarah-manguso/781279/4 "2017-03-03T14:56:23Z")
Benjamin Franklin tried writing a book like that once. It got him nowhere. ---
**Author:** ![WordMan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/e8c25b/32.png) [@WordMan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WordMan)\ **Post date:** [March 3, 2017, 3:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/brief-brilliant-thoughtful-book-300-arguments-by-sarah-manguso/781279/5 "2017-03-03T15:39:20Z")
Hey no worries. YMMV and all. It feels like I didn’t do a good job, because it certainly doesn’t come across as juvenile. I was trying to show a couple of the crass / funny ones. I heard about it on NPR and other places I like, and it reviewed well. An essayist I like, John Jeremiah Sullivan, blurbed it. I gave it a shot and found it really good. ETA: [Book Review: '300 Arguments,' Sarah Manguso : NPR](http://www.npr.org/2017/02/16/515638206/book-review-300-arguments-sarah-manguso) ---
**Author:** ![Novelty\_Bobble](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/a3d4f5/32.png) [@Novelty\_Bobble](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Novelty_Bobble)\ **Post date:** [March 3, 2017, 4:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/brief-brilliant-thoughtful-book-300-arguments-by-sarah-manguso/781279/6 "2017-03-03T16:16:40Z")
> [@WordMan](#): > > Hey no worries. YMMV and all. It feels like I didn’t do a good job, because it certainly doesn’t come across as juvenile. I was trying to show a couple of the crass / funny ones. > > I heard about it on NPR and other places I like, and it reviewed well. An essayist I like, John Jeremiah Sullivan, blurbed it. I gave it a shot and found it really good. > > ETA: [Book Review: '300 Arguments,' Sarah Manguso : NPR](http://www.npr.org/2017/02/16/515638206/book-review-300-arguments-sarah-manguso) And no worries either way. Literature and art more widely speaks to different people in different ways. If it works for you, it works for you and it may well be something that others will find meaningful. If so…more power to them. (My perennial cultural blindspot is jazz, I hate it whilst fully appreciating others find great joy…so it goes.) ---
**Author:** ![WordMan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/e8c25b/32.png) [@WordMan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WordMan)\ **Post date:** [March 3, 2017, 4:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/brief-brilliant-thoughtful-book-300-arguments-by-sarah-manguso/781279/7 "2017-03-03T16:40:59Z")
> [@Novelty\_Bobble](#): > > And no worries either way. Literature and art more widely speaks to different people in different ways. If it works for you, it works for you and it may well be something that others will find meaningful. If so…more power to them. > > (My perennial cultural blindspot is jazz, I hate it whilst fully appreciating others find great joy…so it goes.) Oh yes, I remembered that long thread on jazz that I started based on your comments in another thread. ETA: here it is - [Hate Jazz but wish you knew a bit more about why? A Jazz 101 thread. - Cafe Society - Straight Dope Message Board](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=588074) ---
**Author:** ![Novelty\_Bobble](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/a3d4f5/32.png) [@Novelty\_Bobble](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Novelty_Bobble)\ **Post date:** [March 3, 2017, 6:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/brief-brilliant-thoughtful-book-300-arguments-by-sarah-manguso/781279/8 "2017-03-03T18:35:04Z")
> [@WordMan](#): > > Oh yes, I remembered that long thread on jazz that I started based on your comments in another thread. > > ETA: here it is - [Hate Jazz but wish you knew a bit more about why? A Jazz 101 thread. - Cafe Society - Straight Dope Message Board](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=588074) I remember that, people of vastly differing tastes and opinions discussing the subject in reasonable tones and agreeing to disagree. 2010 eh? such innocent happy days. ---
**Author:** ![Two\_Many\_Cats](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/8dc957/32.png) [@Two\_Many\_Cats](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Two_Many_Cats)\ **Post date:** [March 3, 2017, 7:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/brief-brilliant-thoughtful-book-300-arguments-by-sarah-manguso/781279/9 "2017-03-03T19:10:16Z")
> [@WordMan](#): > > Link to Amazon listing here: [300 Arguments: Essays: Manguso, Sarah: 9781555977641: Amazon.com: Books](https://www.amazon.com/300-Arguments-Essays-Sarah-Manguso/dp/1555977642) > > I suspect that a woman would find some deep truths and insights in this book and love it for reasons only available to me on the outside. But I love it for what I got out of it. > > Strongly recommend. Anyone else read it? Well, from my woman’s perspective, and based only on the excerpts you’ve offered here, I think I would get nauseous reading this book from all the eye rolling I’d be doing. Silly twit, I’d be thinking if I was in a charitable mood. Stupid twat, if I was having a bad day. Do you have any other examples from this book to suggest this wisdom you found so compelling? ---
**Author:** ![WordMan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/e8c25b/32.png) [@WordMan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WordMan)\ **Post date:** [March 3, 2017, 7:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/brief-brilliant-thoughtful-book-300-arguments-by-sarah-manguso/781279/10 "2017-03-03T19:22:29Z")
> [@Two\_Many\_Cats](#): > > Well, from my woman’s perspective, and based only on the excerpts you’ve offered here, I think I would get nauseous reading this book from all the eye rolling I’d be doing. Silly twit, I’d be thinking if I was in a charitable mood. Stupid twat, if I was having a bad day. > > Do you have any other examples from this book to suggest this wisdom you found so compelling? With that encouragement? I’ll pass. I stand by the recommendation but don’t feel the need to convince you. ---
**Author:** ![Two\_Many\_Cats](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/8dc957/32.png) [@Two\_Many\_Cats](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Two_Many_Cats)\ **Post date:** [March 3, 2017, 8:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/brief-brilliant-thoughtful-book-300-arguments-by-sarah-manguso/781279/11 "2017-03-03T20:23:36Z")
> [@WordMan](#): > > With that encouragement? I’ll pass. I stand by the recommendation but don’t feel the need to convince you. Okay, sorry if I sounded grumpy, but I just left the emergency room against medical advice. So I’ve had better days. ---
**Author:** ![WordMan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/e8c25b/32.png) [@WordMan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WordMan)\ **Post date:** [March 3, 2017, 9:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/brief-brilliant-thoughtful-book-300-arguments-by-sarah-manguso/781279/12 "2017-03-03T21:15:55Z")
> [@Two\_Many\_Cats](#): > > Okay, sorry if I sounded grumpy, but I just left the emergency room against medical advice. So I’ve had better days. Oh my gosh, you have indeed. Hope you are feeling better. How about: > [@](#): > > Depression is hard to describe not just because it is > complex and abstract but also because it occupies the > part of us capable of describing things. > [@](#): > > I used to pursue the usual things - sex, drugs, rough > neighborhoods - in order to enjoy the feeling of wast- > ing my life, of tempting danger. Motherhood has fi- > nally satisfied that hunger. It’s a self-obliteration that > never stops and that no one notices. ---
**Author:** ![Two\_Many\_Cats](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/8dc957/32.png) [@Two\_Many\_Cats](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Two_Many_Cats)\ **Post date:** [March 3, 2017, 9:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/brief-brilliant-thoughtful-book-300-arguments-by-sarah-manguso/781279/13 "2017-03-03T21:29:40Z")
> [@WordMan](#): > > Oh my gosh, you have indeed. Hope you are feeling better. > > How about: r Ah, that’s better. The description about depression rings true. Sometimes that’s difficult to express even to oneself. Today in the ambulance, the paramedic was asking me about what medical conditions I had. I mentioned the diabetes and the high blood pressure. But I didn’t even think to list clinical depression until she asked about my meds. Btw, I have a chest cold that triggered the all time mother of asthma attacks. The hospital wanted to keep me overnight. But I have a ninety year old mom at home who can’t be left alone that long. Didn’t mean to hijack. I’m just cursing the fates. I’m glad you found a book that speaks to you **Wordman**. Thanks for the kind thought after my snottiness. ---
**Author:** ![WordMan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/e8c25b/32.png) [@WordMan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WordMan)\ **Post date:** [March 3, 2017, 10:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/brief-brilliant-thoughtful-book-300-arguments-by-sarah-manguso/781279/14 "2017-03-03T22:40:03Z")
Hey, all good. Feel better! ---
**Author:** ![Mean\_Mr.Mustard](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mean_mr.mustard/32/3865_2.png) [@Mean\_Mr.Mustard](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mean_Mr.Mustard)\ **Post date:** [March 3, 2017, 11:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/brief-brilliant-thoughtful-book-300-arguments-by-sarah-manguso/781279/15 "2017-03-03T23:25:10Z")
> [@Novelty\_Bobble](#): > > Literature and art more widely speaks to different people in different ways. If it works for you, it works for you and it may well be something that others will find meaningful… Hey! You made one! I kinda like this: > [@](#): > > “Bad art is from no one to no one.” mmm