For her Atlantic Monthly blog, early econ-blogger Megan McArdle talks about Skinny Bitch, the insanely popular health-fad book that's a vegan diatribe in disguise. She hates on it in the best of ways:

"Imagine distilling all the self-righteous moralism of a yuppie eco-tourist who voted for Nader, twice, and only eats hemp. Now add all the hectoring nannyism of the nutritionists who write those "Liver and lima beans: your forgotten friends" pamphlets from the US Department of Agriculture. Toss in generous lashings of the exhibitionist ignorance of self-styled health food experts—the ones who promise that if you can just find the right combination of vitamin supplements, you will live forever, and also, marry Brad Pitt. Then find the three meanest girls from your local high school and extract multiple doses of the unprovoked venom they direct towards the fattest girl in the class. Combine all these ingredients in a large bowl, making sure that you haven't accidentally included any shreds of a soul."

[Asymmetrical Information]