A review by librarian_luna
Autism's False Prophets: Bad Science, Risky Medicine, and the Search for a Cure by Paul A. Offit

4.0

I was pleased with the following aspects of the book: Although largely justified in his other works Offit's language (never profane or vulgar mind you) and voice was less strong/outspoken in this one, Unlike Mnookin's The Panic Virus Offit doesn't stoop to the rhetorical devices that are both unnecessary and, at least for me and others that I've spoken with, also serve to undermine Mnookin's arguments, Offit tries to give the benefit of the doubt (under the auspice of sincere concern but without full understanding) to many of the individuals who have or still support theories that have been discredited, disproven, or lack substantiation.

Aspects I feel could be improved:
Although like Offit's other works (at least the ones I've read) he provides a large set of endnotes to support his claims, arguments, and ideas there are no in text indicators such as superscript or parenthetical insertions that show direct relationships between his text and the endnotes (I do not wish to count quotes and try to match them to his endnotes), I feel that many opportunities for additional discussion were not addressed such as the role of web 2.0 and self referencing or circular referencing phenomena, and I would have liked a larger selected biography for my own additional inquiry.
To be fair the above list is largely idiosyncratic and not indicative of poor writing.