334 pages of gleeful insults from a world-class misanthrope

Or, paint misbehavin’

What business trope has caused more damage to society than the brilliant jerk — or to speak their language, the brilliant asshole? Yes, Steve Jobs created the iPhone and Elon Musk revived the electric car, but in doing so they inspired legions of young men to emulate their behaviour regardless of their talent.

This character did not spring de novo from the garages of Silicon Valley, of course. Consider the inconsiderate painter James Whistler, a brushoff artist whose prodigious insults merited a book of their own.