We hate this guy...oh yeah, he wrote a book, too.

Newsweek, which already is in the running for the ugliest website offered by a mainstream media company, seems intent on taking the book review to new heights of absurdity.

First off there is their We Read It [So you don't have to] series of reviews, which summarize and cite the choicest bits from selected books so...well...you don't have to read them, I suppose. Thanks for telling us what to think and saving us from the trouble of engaging in the oh-so-boring exercise of reading, Newsweek!

Now today comes this article about Jonathan Franzen. Which goes on for three paragraphs about why we should hate the author for having opinions and being a touch eccentric. That would be fine enough, however, except that the final paragraph then veers into a miniature review of his latest work, Freedom.

This is sort of the sneak attack version of a book review. You thought you were reading a piece about an author? Surprise! We've thrown in a capsule review as well. I suppose this saves Newsweek the trouble of writing an actual review of the book...though I would have preferred it if they told us the best parts like they usually do, so we wouldn't actually have to read it.