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bluestjuice's review
3.0
From the title I was expecting something a bit more like a discussion of overarching principles of ethics, which is not really the subject of this book. Instead, it is a compilation of the author's New York Times column writings, a collection of published opinions about the ethics of various questions, some 'large' societal questions which he uses to structure each chapter, and some specific questions written in by the public. Each of his answers to public queries are very short, because of the constraints of his newspaper column, although he does provide follow-up information on some occasions. Because of the structure, however, this book covers breadth rather than depth, and, as he states up front, serves best as a springboard for individuals to discuss the ideas of ethics with each other, and as insight into his moral reasoning. I didn't always agree with his judgments, and I found his humorous tone sometimes distracting, but these are minor quibbles. Instead this simply gets a middle-of-the-road rating from me by virtue of being interesting but uninspiring.
dogtrax's review
4.0
I'm really enjoying this collection of ethical choices and advice. Witty, and informative.
kim_a's review
3.0
'Be Good' brings together a selection of Randy Cohen's 'The Ethicist' columns in the New York Times, covering twelve years and a wide range of ethical dilemmas, from sports, to 9/11 and civic life. Like any regular feature, not every column is a winner (although I only outright disagreed with one of Cohen's responses, but I can't remember what it was about so maybe it wasn't so important). While reading, there were many points where I either laughed, shouted with indignation, or paused to think, 'Huh, how would I respond to this?' On that alone, I recommend reading this book, particularly as a group. As one regular column reader did with their family, I recommend gathering your nearest and dearest around you and set out to read one column a day. Debate it furiously and see where it leads. It beats reading it by yourself and then boring your husband as you try to recount the dilemma and Cohen's pithy and/or facetious response. It can only improve your moral reasoning, debating skills, and family bonds. Maybe.
clairelorraine's review
4.0
I must be pretty ethical because I agree with almost everything the ethicist says! Ha!
mangofandango's review
4.0
If you like reading advice columns and are interested in ethics, you will enjoy this. I did! It helps that my ethical conclusions were frequently similar to the author's, but if yours were not, you could certainly enjoy reading this too. I sometimes saw it as a thought exercise, sometimes just as ethical validation, sometimes just curiosity on the same level as any advice column.
tinyelephants's review
4.0
I didn't read any reviews of this prior to picking it up, so I was surprised to see it's a book of advice columns. I did enjoy reading it and found a couple of entries that provoked a few moments of quiet thought, which is all I ask of a book on this subject.
janet's review
3.0
Reading a collection of columns back-to-back led me to getting a little annoyed with Cohen's tone, something that probably wouldn't have happened if I'd read him in small doses in his column in the paper. But, all that said, he and the editors did a good job of selecting interesting, relevant questions about ethics, and the book got me thinking. Cohen is a strong writer, and often funny (though sometimes jokes too much), and his points of view are always very well explained. I look forward to discussing this at the New & Notable Book Club meeting at Avid!
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