From the Bookshelf of Daily Show / Colbert Report / Nightly Show / The Opposition…
Find A Copy At
Group Discussions About This Book
No topics in
2016-Oct-Nov-Dec
yet.
Start one now »
What Members Thought
This just didn't work for me. Packer is a pretty good writer but this is not up there with Michael Lewis, for example, in terms of illuminating complex social issues with engaging narratives.
The stories of "ordinary" people are so detailed and redundant I found them boring. They also didn't seem like particularly good examples of the American Dream. To truly illustrate the unwinding of that, you would need to look at straight arrow types from solid families engaged in productive work. I was exp ...more
The stories of "ordinary" people are so detailed and redundant I found them boring. They also didn't seem like particularly good examples of the American Dream. To truly illustrate the unwinding of that, you would need to look at straight arrow types from solid families engaged in productive work. I was exp ...more
Compellling read. Stories of a variety of Americans since the 1970s. The unwinding of longstanding institutions, such as government and industry results in a "void that was filled by the default force in Amercian life, organized money". Unwindings have happened before but Packer suggest this one is ongoing and may not result in renewal. Narrative non fiction, without a single chart or graph. I personally enjoy data to back up or enhance the stories, though I believe the crux of what he is saying
...more
May 17, 2013
Patrick Arbuckle
marked it as to-read
May 17, 2013
Danielle Dandreaux
marked it as to-read
May 21, 2013
Laura Lee
marked it as to-read
May 22, 2013
~♥*Marianna*♥~
marked it as might-read
May 26, 2013
AJ
marked it as to-read
Jun 28, 2013
Maria
added it
Nov 22, 2013
Erin
marked it as to-read
Nov 28, 2013
Karen
marked it as to-read
Dec 06, 2013
Sean Quinn
marked it as to-read
Dec 09, 2013
Nicholas
marked it as to-read
Dec 10, 2013
Tara
marked it as to-read
Dec 13, 2013
Vis
marked it as to-read
Dec 15, 2013
Manifest Stefany
marked it as to-read
Apr 12, 2014
S
marked it as to-read
May 30, 2014
Rodney Ulyate
marked it as to-read
Aug 06, 2014
Natalie
marked it as to-read
Aug 19, 2014
Cecilia
added it
May 31, 2015
Alex
marked it as to-read
Nov 10, 2016
Linda
marked it as to-read
Jan 30, 2017
Ezra
marked it as to-read
