In The Devil's Delusion, Berlinski's passion for simile begins to take on the qualities of an obsessive compulsion. Here's one rather well-defined symptom:

• "It is as if the liver, in addition to producing bile, were to demonstrate an unexpected ability to play the violin." (Page 17)
  
• "It is rather as if an accomplished horseman were to decide that his chief task were to learn to ride without a horse." (Page 35)
  
• "To ask of the physical science that they assess the Incarnation, or any other principle of religious belief, is rather like asking of a powerful Grand Prix racing car that it prove itself satisfactory in doing service as a New York taxicab." (Page 60)
  
• "Physicists thus find themselves very much in the position of a master couturier obliged to allow one of his finest creations to appear on the runway with its basting lines and tacking pins still affixed." (Page 115)