So . . . we have what the people are interested in, and human interest stories, which is what humans are interested in, and the public interest, which no one is interested in.' Another turning point this book represents, is that this theme and concept feel brand new. Look at the Death series in the Discworld for example, where Death takes a vacation in nearly every single one of his books. There’s only so many variations on the same theme one can do before it starts to get stale. In that regard, this book does feel like a breath of fresh air as it blows new life into the Discworld series. Realising that the job is much harder than their employers had initially suggested, the New Firm decides to skip town. When William de Worde needs to meet Gaspode (Deep Bone) he tells Sachrissa that he is "going to see a dog about a man" a play on the line, "going to see a man about a dog" which is a euphemism for taking a piss. But then he thought about it more seriously. “I wish I had started writing for a living earlier,” he said eventually. “I could probably have started to write full time about 10 years before I did.”

Mr. Pin and Mr. Tulip reminded me of two characters, pairs too if I remember it right, from one of Gaiman´s novels and one of Tad William´s series, Otherland, who had the same potential to greatly entertain. Such a marvelous duo of lunatic evil guys, no matter in which novel, evil is just too sexy. So before long William is the owner of a successful business that employs several dwarfs, a teetotaling vampire, a troll, and a handful of vagabonds. He also has a bunch of money, and a bunch of trouble on his hands. Pratchett plays with the concept of reincarnation with the fates of Tulip and Pin. Tulip is condemned by Death to watch the deaths of his various victims for "eternity" and becomes a wood worm, one type of which is the "Death Watch beetle". Pin, who believes the "religious symbol potato" will save him from hell is reincarnated as a potato shaped like his face and is then fried. I read this about 15 years ago and quite enjoyed the satire and parody about "the truth" that's printed in newspapers (if it's published, it's ink-validated). It's about time for a re-read. Or maybe I'll buy the digital audiobook and listen to it, if the sound quality is good. This book comes after The Fifth Elephant in sequence, but could be read as a stand-alone.William de Worde has never really considered that his monthly newsletters would garner much interest outside his regular patrons (mainly foreign political figures), yet when he starts publishing on a daily basis in Ankh-Morpork he gets the surprise of his life.

Dibbler's remarks, "I could've done all right with the Fung Shooey, though." is a reference to Feng Shui, the ancient Chinese design philosophy where proper placement of objects like furniture and plants within a house influence the fortunes of the house owner. Speaking of the bad guys, we have Mr. Pin and Mr. Tulip… the bad guys from the Looney Toons, you know the ones… the big dumb guy and the little wise a__. They have been hired by a group of “concerned citizens” to set up the Patrician… these concerned citizens are of course, from the upper crust of society with a very defined idea of who should actually be in charge (preferably someone very dumb who will do what they tell him). I personally did not enjoy the bits with Mr. Pin and Mr. Tulip (who has a cursing problem and an obsession with trying to get high, even though it’s never stated outright). I found them to be rather tedious though I know others would find them to be the most humorous part of the book. For those of you who either read these with your children or let your little ones read discworld books (we listen to many of them on audio CD while on road trips, our children think they are hysterical). I don’t know that I would hand this to a child under 12… possibly under 14. The main reason being that Mr. Tulip snorts anything he can get his hands on, though most of the time he’s completely unsuccessful, having snorted mothballs, flour, flea powder etc, I’m not sure that I’d want my kids hearing that (my kids are 7 and 10). Soon we have a "serious" newspaper like The Times competing with a scandal rag, The Inquirer. Funny stuff. He also learns that the TRUTH is not as easy to obtain as facts or statistical data. And it is not easy to define either. In fact, many different people have many different TRUTHS, and they are frequently ready to fight for it against all others. Some TRUTHS are huge. Others are small and seemingly insignificant. It takes a true journalist to arrive at the universal TRUTH through his writing. The way Pratchett did in his books.You will find it very hard to print that," said Mr. Carney, ignoring the lawyer's frantic hand signals, "with no damn press!"

Goodmountain says in regard to getting the printing press from the Inquirer, "Let's just do it" a reference to Nike's famous slogan "Just do it!" Soon, there is a feud between Ankh-Morpork's first newspaper and the one the opposition has started while The Watch has to solve the almost-murder Veterinari is accused of. Maybe the truth can help? William makes the mistake of advertising a reward for information leading to Wuffles' recovery, causing a frenzy among the local Ankh Morpork population. A Terry Pratchett novel scarcely needs another review from me, but I have just re-read this for the third or fourth time and thought I'd add my voice to the chorus of praise for it. William de Worde has somehow found himself editor of Ankh-Morpork’s first newspaper. Well, with a name like that…Mr. Tulip shows his range of interests when he talks about painting (ones he would like to steal) Woman holding a Ferret by Leonard de Quirm is a reference to Leonardo da Vinci's Lady with an Ermine. The painter Gogli is likely van Gogh but Mr. Tulip adds"If ----ing Gogli painted that, it was with his ----ing foot" a reference to Christie Brown, the Irish artist and author of My Left Foot. His comments about "[...] the P'gi Su dynasty" is a reference to Peggy Sue', the title of one of Buddy Holly's hits and a reminder of the previous novel ''Soul Music.' but also a play on the various Chinese Dynasties. bring more depth, insight, and truth than all information and education in schools, newspapers, news networks, and, lol, the representatives and their official channels themselves. William de Word doesn't want to live the way his family has for generations. Instead, he lives in Ankh-Morpork and got a job. While he pays his bills by writing letters to different people from different other places he comes across a few industrious (see what I did there? ;P) dwarves who have invented a rather advanced printing press. Thus the Ankh-Morpork Times is born. The problem is not that paper is now used to spread stories; the problem is that de Word believes in the truth and only reports about actual events.

William de Worde wants to publish truthful stories, but not everybody signs in on this agenda. Almost immediately after the first issue of the A-M Times, a new paper is published by the guild of wood engravers, sponsored by dark money and filled with sensational stories and conspiracy theories. The public seems more interested in this ‘yellow’ press of gossip and outright invention than in the investigative efforts of William.The line "We are a bodyguard of lies, gentlemen." is a paraphrase of Winston Churchill's line "In war-time, truth is so precious that she should always be attended by a bodyguard of lies", an appropriate quote given the title of the book. Mere superstition! said Otto. “All zat possibly happens is that a subject’s own morphic signature aligns zer resons, or thing-particles, in phase-space according to zer Temporal Relevance Theory, creating zer effect of multiple directionless vindows vhich intersect vith the illusion of zer Present and create metaphoric images according to zer dictates of quasi-historical extrapolations. You see? Nothing mysterious about it at all!” In 2008, Harper Children's published Terry's standalone non-Discworld YA novel, Nation. Terry published Snuff in October 2011.