"The Clot Thickens" - My candid book review


(Joey) #1

Dr. Malcolm Kendrick’s “The Clot Thickens” © 2021 :open_book:

THE GOOD, THE BAD, THE UGLY

Full disclosure: I am a Dr. Kendrick fan (“Doctoring Data,” “The Great Cholesterol Con”) and was excited to start reading his latest book - “The Clot Thickens.”

His thesis is straightforward enough and remains highly relevant to concerns that keto-forum members like me spend much time exploring. I couldn’t wait to dive in.

But that excitement quickly faded as this book became an unfortunate trudge. Kendrick has a compelling thesis to share. Then, for some reason, he buries it in a relentlessly boorish and desultory writing style.

THE GOOD: Dr. Kendrick seems to be on to something really important here. He is meticulous in citing relevant scientific papers. The referenced footnotes section provides an excellent source for further study. And his overall thesis appears to be compelling (i.e., thrombogenic causes of atherosclerosis are the most likely and widespread culprits behind the rising global incidence of CVD).

THE BAD: His newly exaggerated writing style quickly becomes hard to stomach (for me). It’s sarcastic, sophomoric, preachy and flatly rude. When he’s not self-aggrandizing as to how right he is and how wrong just about everyone else is, his incessant whining and failed attempts at humor had me skipping ahead in hopes he’d finally get back on point.

Often it took several paragraphs before he’d pick up the primary thread again. As a reader, I began to wonder what I had done wrong to deserve this treatment. I just wanted it to stop.

THE UGLY: As a result, this 330+ page book is about three times longer than it needs to be. Had Kendrick simply devoted fifty pages to his thesis - straight and clear - followed by another fifty of footnotes/citations, he would have crafted a superbly thin masterpiece to become a touchstone for the 21st century.

Instead, his ideas are wrapped in childish distractions that now keep me from recommending this book to family and friends. I don’t want to give them a good excuse to chuck a book on this important topic aside and just roll their eyes. I expect most would. Instead I’ll try to cite the underlying science in hopes this gains some traction.

If you’re a die-hard keto fan with too much time to kill, yes, it’s worth the read. But if you’re a physician or other health care advisor looking to get smarter about what’s going on with our global CVD trends, this book asks you to wade through far too much dribble to get there.

Sorry, Dr. Kendrick, I’m truly a fan of your prior work. This latest book was a missed opportunity.


(Bob M) #2

Bummer, as I’m a fan of him and his previous books, of which I have the same two you reference above.


(Joey) #3

Unless you may be a “die-hard keto fan with time to kill?” That kept me trudging through to the end. :thinking:


(KCKO, KCFO) #4

Thanks for the review. I have more interesting things to read these days.
I’ll just keep on kcko and kcfoing.


#5

Ah, shame. But I might just get it anyway and see for myself. Which is what he would want, of course :wink: