GET IT!!! Patrick Hughes's Paradoxymoron is a gem of a book by a deep thinker and an accomplished artist who is also a pioneer in writing books on paradox. The author delivers more than he promises in his Preface, in which we read: "I take pleasure in paradox... Unlike conventional writers on paradox I find paradoxes to be true... I have cast my net farther and wider than any other commentator. The examples in this book are rich, subtle, clever, varied, resourceful, fascinating, and funny, full of insight and imagination." I would add that they are also very well organized in cohesive chapters. This makes the reading enjoyable and meaningful, rather than going aimlessly over unrelated quotations. Also, this systematic classification helps me recall several related examples that I can inject apropos in my everyday discussions. Another feature that helps me cement the categories in memory are the tens of visual paradoxes that Patrick Hughes has carefully collected over the years, many of them his own ingenious paintings and drawings. Indeed, Hughes's book is the most entertaining book I have read in decades. If you like paradoxes and authors such as Gardner, Smullyan, Colie, Hofstadter, Benardete, etc., as well as visual puns and illusions and artists such as Magritte, Dali, Duchamp, Lawry, Escher, Mariën, Hughes, etc., then Paradoxymoron is a "MUST READ". Even if you have never heard of some of the names above, even if you have never read a book on paradox, this is the best introduction by far. (this is a quoted Amazon customer review), 2nd edition, hard cover, 22 x 19 cm, 240 pages, London 2024
ISBN: 978-0-956-80610-9
