Wednesday, August 20, 2008

On Being a Shit: What the Book is About


On Being a Shit: Unkind Deeds and Cover-ups in Everyday Life shows the many ways that people evade responsibility for their behaviors and, whenever possible, to blame others. I use humor and tongue-in-cheek scholarly language to contrast with the earthy term shit. I’ve thought a great deal about my use of the vernacular and decided to keep it since this is how people think about persons who dump on them. I realize that I in turn may be dumped on for using such a term.

I wrote this book for persons who encounter others who enact being shits, a broad audience indeed. For more than 25 years, I did research on serious violence, such as rape, child molestation, and murder. In their own words, perpetrators described multiple and ingenious ways they evaded responsibility for their behaviors.

As I became familiar with their tactics, I began to notice variations of them operating in everyday life among persons who had committed relatively minor unkind deeds and sought to cover them up through evasion, obfuscation, and blame. Eventually, I termed these everyday acts being a shit and decided to write a book about them. I wanted to let others know what I have learned from years of research and in so doing to help them avoid being ensnared in the machinations that are now so familiar to me.

Given my sensitization to the topic, I freely admit that I have been a recipient of unkind deeds and cover-ups and have attained expertise in enabling these behaviors. I am much better at being a recipient than an enactor, although I have some talent in that regard as well.

I am a professor at the University of Minnesota, Twin Cities. I have an extensive publication record and have lectured, consulted, and done trainings nationally and internationally on the ideas that are the basis of the present book, as will be shown in more detail later.

Buy On Being a Shit at Barnes and Noble, Amazon, Kindle, Mobipocket, and other on-line book sellers. It will change your life!

On Being a Shit: Table of Contents



Just look at the table of contents. Have you ever seen anything as interesting as this? Who ever thought there were that many ways to cover up unkind deeds?

Read this book! You'll know just what to do the next time someone tries to pull a fast one on you.

Buy it at Amazon, Barnes and Noble, Kindle, and other on-line booksellers.




PART ONE

Developing a Theory of Being a Shit

Introduction
When someone dumps on us and then tries
to cover up, a typical response is “You shit!”


Shedding Light in Dark Places
Getting others to believe it is their fault
is the crowning achievement of being a shit



Scholarly Inquiry into the Origins,
Cognates, and Meanings of Being a Shit

Shit is one of the most versatile words
in the English language


Humbug, Bullshit, Lying, and Truthiness:
Conditions Related to Being a Shit

Being a shit differs from related
human conditions


A Preliminary Theory of Being a Shit
Being a shit is impossible
without the consent of recipients



PART TWO

Testing a Theory of Being a Shit
on Stories from Everyday Life

A Son Borrows His Dad’s Car

“It’s Easy to Lie to an Honest Guy”

Sophie and Bill Dump on Each Other

Early Successes:
“Stick Your Head in, You Clam”

Cover-Ups in the Mining Industry

Actions and Not Words as Cover-Ups
in the Business World

Commentary on What to Call Enactors
Who Fail at Being Shits

Drama in the Scottish Highlands:
A True Believer, a Schmuck, or Both?

Dick Cheney Shoots Lawyer
While Others Cover Up

The Case of the Missing Coffee Grinder

Drama in Dublin:
Success and Then Failure at Being a Shit

When a Man Wants Two Women

Clarence Thomas Markets his Book

Karl Rove Scores



PART THREE

Applications of the Theory
to Stories of Coming Clean

On Accountability

A Daughter Steals Her Dad’s Painting
but Sees the Error of her Ways

Commentary on Accountability:
Billy Pittman’s Near Perfect Apology

Harry Dent Sees the Light

Drug Makers Admit Guilt,
but are They Sincere?

Oprah Winfrey Demands Accountability

Commentary on the Differences
Between True and Fake Accountability

What Not to Do:
Jimmy Carter Waffles



PART FOUR

Discussion and Conclusions,
or Where Do We Go From Here?

The Final Version of the Theory

New Types of Cover-Ups

The Resistance That Some
Recipients Mount

Significance of the Lesser Statuses

The Joys of Being a Shit

Final Thoughts: Standing Up to Them

APPENDICES

Table 1: A List of Cover-Ups
and their Enactors

Figure 1: A Status Hierarchy
of Types of Enactors

Further Details on Method

Endnotes

Index

Excerpt from Child Sexual Abuse: Perpetrators
and Child Survivors Tell Their Stories

About the Author