IN THIS PROFOUND AND PLAYFUL BOOK, NASSIM NICHOLAS TALEB, AUTHOR OF THE BESTSELLING PHENOMENON THE BLACK SWAN, PRESENTS THE PUREST DISTILLATION OF HIS IDIOSYNCRATIC GENIUS. We humans, facing the limits of knowledge, try to squeeze life into reductive categories and pre-packaged narratives. Taleb demolishes our illusions, contrasting the classical values of courage, elegance and erudition against modern philistinism and phoniness OTHER WRITERS ON NASSIM NICHOLAS TALEB 'The hottest thinker in the world' BRYAN APPLEYARD 'Great fun . . . brash, stubborn, entertaining, opinionated, curious, cajoling' STEPHEN J. DUBNER 'A bouncy and even exhilarating guide' WILL SELF 'Funny, quirky and thought-provoking' JOHN CORNWELL 'Like some superhero of the mind' BOYD TONKIN