PositiveFine Books MagazineAs Romm points out in his introduction, some previous translators could not square with the lack of judgement in Theophrastus’s sketches and inserted their own. This edition strips away those addendums, allowing the original descriptions to be read on their own merit ... reveals more of the author’s natural verve and wit, which has led some scholars to dispute whether Theophrastus deserves the attribution ... Society needs writers who document human behavior, even if that behavior never seems to change. But those records needn’t always be gloomy.
