Bests & Worsts Reviews from Amazon

This is the book we've been waiting for! Unlike most other books in the genre, The Great Unraveling is smart and informed, it avoids selectively choosing facts that artificially make the author's points seem clearer than they are, and it does not rely on comedy as a substitute for insight and intelligence. Bravo to author, columnist and economist Paul Krugman for creating the first political book I've seen this season that is at once honest enough, well researched enough, and also well written enough that it can target an audience that stretches far beyond the usual policy wonks and think tankers. Mr. Krugman somehow manages to be angry and sensible at the same time, no easy trick. Yes, of course, the author has an agenda. But anyone who thinks it is a simple "get-Bush" agenda is looking at it too simply. In this book Mr. Krugman looks at policy with an extremely critical but fair eye -- exactly what the fourth estate is supposed to be doing. Thank goodness someone is still doing his job. I have been a reader of Mr. Krugman's columns in the International Herald-Tribune for some time, and so I had read many of the "chapters" before they appeared in The Great Unraveling. But there is a great value to having all of these pieces in one place. And those who do not read Mr. Krugman's thoughts on a regular basis will find it hard to believe these writings were not written with the intention of forming a logical and cogent argument as they do on the book's 300-plus pages. I have always thought that Mr. Krugman's strength is his ability as a writer to make complex arguments understandable without cheapening them, but what I like best about his work is that he uses his writing skill in a supporting role, letting the facts tell the true tale. My complaint? I would have liked to see more new and longer commentary here. There is some, but one of the shortcomings to Mr. Krugman's normal forum in the New York Times is that he is limited to 500 or 750 words to make important points regarding issues as complex as the nation's budgetary problems, the justification for the war in Iraq, and corporate blunders. But I see no reason for such a limit here.