In his book Haiti: The Breached Citadel, Patrick Bellegarde-Smith lists a number of Haitian writers of various disciplines for the readers' enlightenment. Regarding authors on Vodou, he lists himself. He does the same in his list about writers on Haitian history and socio-cultural development.
The weird part is that it's as if he tried to slip his own name into these lists of prominent Haitian writers. In the Vodou list, he's the 8th of 9 writers. He's 2nd out of 10 in the other list. No mention that he's putting himself in that class of Haitian writers. No little aside of humility. A "dare I include myself along side these illuminating authors" would've been nice.
Listen, Patrick Bellegarde-Smith, you realize we're reading your book, right? If we like it, we'll check out your other books. You don't have to trick us into thinking highly of yourself by shoving your name in the middle of a couple of long lists. You demean the reader and yourself. C'mon Patrick Bellegarde-Smith, you're better than that!
The sad thing is, besides claiming that Nelson Rockefeller was the VP in 1969 (Spiro Agnew anyone?), Bellegarde-Smith is better than that. His book is a penetrating one that covers the breath of Haitian history while articulating some interesting ideas.
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