An annuity of b.s.

The Guardian visits with 75-year-old Harry Frankfurt, philosopher emeritus at Princeton University to talk about his bestseller, a recycling of a 20-year-old lecture called "On Bullshit." "So it was re-released.... as a piece of work in itself: a pocket-sized, hardback book of 67 pages with big print and wide margins. "I was surprised when they said they wanted to publish it as a book because I didn't think there was enough there for a book. But my editor said: "You can do a lot with page sizes and margins." "On Bullshit is in its 10th US printing, having sold 175,000 copies. "Ask Frankfurt why he thinks the book is doing so well and you will get no bullshit. "I really don't know," he says. "People are starved of a more straightforward approach to reality. They are sick of bullshit. They are people who don't try to avoid a straight confrontation with the truth ... But then this would be true 20 years ago."