My own opinion that "Crunchy Con" was an interesting and thought-provoking small article prematurely expanded into a thin and loosely-reasoned book, lacking sufficient muscle tone to carry the ideological position it defends. It does read, in places,like a style piece asking for a more quirky and refined consumerism.
Rod's better than that. Some of his stuff at Dallas Morning News has verged on heroic.
I've been impressed with some of his writing, too. He reminds me of Peggy Noonan - at their best, they're really good, but using facts and reason to direct emotion and intuition is not their strength.