Sorry, this isn’t ‘The Great Gatsby’

You won’t find the publication on anyone’s best seller list. The thin volume, designed to assist California residents seeking to pass a test to secure the privilege of a driver’s license, will never be compared to the great works of literature by any definition you might care to employ. Forget Tolstoy or Dickens.

But don’t mention any of this to the anonymous authors of the DMV’s mini-tome. They appear to have an entirely different view of their product. They are fixated on copyright protection for their literary creation. Really.

According to them, their effort is decidedly in need of literary security. To wit, they have provided a set of stern no-no’s at the handbook’s outset. They offer that it is profoundly illegal to:

• Make a copy of any part of the handbook.

• Make copies of the handbook and give them to other people.

• Write your own version of the handbook.

• Put the handbook on public display.

• Perform (read aloud) the handbook in public.

So the next time you notice some unthinking scofflaw quoting from the DMV handbook in a drama class or at a public forum of any kind, by all means report the disturbing incident to the authorities.

SCOTT WIENER, STATE’S TOP COP: Speaking of piloting a vehicle on the freeways and byways of the great state of California, let’s have a round of applause (or not) for another example of over-reach on the part of that inveterate social engineer, state Sen. Scott Wiener, D-San Francisco.

Is there nothing out there that doesn’t need fixing, according to the ever-vigilant Wiener and his busy minions? He’s a nonstop hall monitor watching over every one of us, man, woman, child and everyone in between.

His latest crusade is speeding. His new bill would require new cars within three years to be equipped with devices to prevent — or at least deter — drivers from exceeding a posted speed limit beyond 10 mph.

In other words, Wiener wants to be California’s top traffic cop. Where does it end? When will he relax? When will he see fit to allow the state’s residents to live their lives without constant intrusions, never-ending mandates governing personal behavior?

From a state decree to vaccinate teens against COVID without parental consent to state control of local housing rules, it seems almost like a compulsion for Wiener and his staff of eager societal gendarmes. Apparently, they never sleep, fretting endlessly about our perceived failures as flawed inhabitants of the state.

Here’s a thought: Just leave us all alone for awhile. Please.

LINOTYPE MACHINE HAD ITS PLACE: An inquiring reader has asked for more information on the Linotype machine, a printing invention mentioned in this space earlier this month.

The cumbersome, noisy device (some models weighed well over a ton) was used to set entire lines of hot metal type (hence the name) for newspapers, books, magazines and other printed products.

The innovation was a big improvement over the laborious practice of creating individual letters of type on a time-consuming, inefficient basis. The printing industry got a big boost when it came onto the scene.

The Linotype machine, invented in the late 19th century, eventually was replaced by photo-typesetting and, finally, the miracle of digital technology, which has eliminated the need for print-on-paper in many, if not most, publishing cases.

The Linotype machine is now a museum piece, a relic of another age. But it most certainly had its important place in the publishing world for nearly 100 years.

You can contact John Horgan by email at johnhorganmedia@gmail.com or via Facebook and Instagram. His book, “Cradle of Champions — A Selected History of San Mateo County Sports,” is available via historysmc.org/online-store. All proceeds benefit the San Mateo County Historical Association based in Redwood City.