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The Almost Nearly Perfect People: Behind the Myth of the Scandinavian Utopia, by Michael Booth
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Review
“Bill Bryson goes to Scandinavia.†―Christian Science Monitor (Ten Best Books of January)"Booth's extremely funny character analysis of Scandinavia (which includes the adjacent Arctic-Circle floaters, Iceland and Finland) gives an incisive yet comprehensive overview of each of these reputedly lucky lands."―Liesl Schillinger, The New York Times Book Review “Outrageously entertaining...Like members of a family, each of these five nations, despite a strong shared resemblance, has its own character, and Booth really is the guy you want to explain the differences to you. The Almost Nearly Perfect People offers up the ideal mixture of intriguing and revealing facts.†―Laura Miller, Salon“Booth's project is essentially observational; it aspires to a comic genre that might be called Euro-exotica. The form was well established by the time Twain published The Innocents Abroad in 1869, and it has been carried through the twentieth century by writers as varied as S. J. Perelman and Peter Mayle....In this sense, Booth's book is as much about Anglo-American power as it is about the Nordic way.†―The New Yorker“Part travelogue, part cultural history, Michael Booth's book about Nordic countries is crammed with some truly bizarre facts.†―Entertainment Weekly“The result of Booth's ethnographic snooping is this insightful, entertaining and very funny book. Booth also happens to be a terrific ambassador to the often insular and sometimes baffling behavior of the Nordic peoples....Anthropological research has never been this much fun.†―Chicago Tribune“A lively exploration that's part ethnography and part travel guide…at its core, The Almost Nearly Perfect People is driven by genuine curiosity and appreciation for a singular part of the world most Americans know very little about--and could stand to learn a thing or two from.†―The Daily Beast (Hot Reads)“A humorous deconstruction of the belief that the Scandi nations are each a social paradise while affirming that life in one of the five can be quite congenial. Finally, an answer to the pressing question, how can Danes be so happy while paying such high taxes?†―The New York Daily News“An entertaining, authoritative, and often funny travelogue.†―Minneapolis Star Tribune“It is said that most people can't tell one Nordic country from another. Maybe so, but what they do know is that these nations are exceptional. This collective exceptionalism is worth studying up close and Michael Booth's book is a good place to begin. He writes with irony and charm and in the end, much affection for his adopted home in Denmark.†―The Huffington Post“Booth is often funny, and he keeps us engaged.†―The Week“With his tongue never too far from his cheek, British journalist Michael Booth takes an ironic scalpel to what seems to be the modern obsession with the so-called perfection of life in the five Northern European countries in his The Almost Nearly Perfect People....a truly interesting and enjoyable piece of writing.†―Seattle Post-Intelligencer“[Booth's] dry wit permeates the book...He has written an immersive, insightful, and often humorous examination of a most curious culture.†―Publishers Weekly“If, like many, you may never make it to Denmark, Iceland, Norway, Finland, or Sweden, this is your book, and Booth is your guide. He is congenial, game, funny, and observant. And he tells it like it was…†―Booklist“Booth brings a deliciously droll sense of humor to his mission.†―BookPage“An enjoyable, funny romp through the region.†―The Telegraph (London)“Booth offers an affectionate, observant, engaging look at Scandinavia, where trust, modesty and equality proudly prevail.†―Kirkus Reviews“I laughed out loud . . . A lively and endearing portrait of our friends in the north, venerated globally for their perfectly balanced societies but, it turns out, as flawed as the rest of us--or at least only almost perfect.†―The Observer (UK)“A rollicking travelogue . . . [and] a welcome rejoinder to those who cling to the idea of the Nordic region as a promised land.†―Financial Times“Sorry, liberals, Scandinavian countries aren't utopias.†―The New York Post“Entertaining stuff and very readable.†―The Independent (UK)“Booth is an assiduous excavator of entertaining facts.†―The Times (London)
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About the Author
Michael Booth is the author of five works of non-fiction, including The Almost Nearly Perfect People. His writing appears regularly in The Guardian, The Independent, The Times, The Telegraph, and Condé Nast Traveler magazine, among many other publications globally. He is the Copenhagen correspondent for Monocle magazine and Monocle 24 radio, and travels regularly to give talks and lectures on the Nordic lands and their peculiar, nearly perfect people. He lives in Denmark with his wife and two sons.
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Product details
Hardcover: 400 pages
Publisher: Picador (January 27, 2015)
Language: English
ISBN-10: 1250061962
ISBN-13: 978-1250061966
Product Dimensions:
5.8 x 1.3 x 8.6 inches
Shipping Weight: 1 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
Average Customer Review:
4.2 out of 5 stars
305 customer reviews
Amazon Best Sellers Rank:
#48,532 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
The Nordic countries make up five countries located in northern Europe: Denmark, Finland, Sweden, Norway, and Iceland. As author Michael Booth posits, despite the fact that these countries often rank highest in the world in terms of quality of life (with Denmark almost always being rated the "happiest" country in the world), most people know little about them or what differentiates them. In his home of Denmark, for example, he says that people can discuss the affairs of other countries, but doubts anyone in the U.S. Congress could name the Danish Foreign Minister. Or he challenges the reader to name someone, anybody, from Finland. In this book, he travels around these five countries, exploring their cultural curiosities, and trying to learn a bit about what makes them tick.One of the strongest points of this book is that he explores the different cultures of these countries through his own eyes and writes as such. Because of this, the writing can often be quite funny. Booth shares some lighthearted jokes the residents of one country have at the expense of others. Or his uncomfortable experience of visiting a Finnish sauna for the first time. But, aside from the humor, you get a sense of the pride many people take in their countries. One memorable example is the Constitution Day celebrations that take place on May 17 in Norway where people dress up in ways that invoke a romantic image of the past. Booth notes how immigrants to Norway, despite little to no connection to this history, heartily embrace it.More serious matters are also of importance. Booth dedicates some time at looking at the horrific terrorist attack of the extreme-right wing Norwegian Anders Behring Breivik in 2011 and the effect it had on the country. Surprisingly, as terrible as the attack was, there was not a lot of permanent change. There was no new security put in place and life went on. Booth also explores some of the aspects of the Nordic countries' famous welfare states and how that works. I found the section on Sweden in this regard most interesting. In Sweden, Booth sees a system he refers to as "benign totalitarianism" where the Swedish government heavily intervenes in the lives of its citizens, even interfering in parenting. There is debate if this just creates too much dependency on the state and stifles the individual or if it releases the individual from worries allowing him or her to become truly individualistic.One objective of this book, as the title implies, is looking past the utopian image these countries sometime have. They are not without problems. This was especially apparent in Iceland where years of economic mismanagement culminated in a severe financial crisis in the late 2000s. He also wonders whether the current system of welfare is sustainable in the long run without changes. Denmark and Sweden already have a tax system that most Americans, for example, would find absolutely preposterous. All of these countries also face the situation, as many other countries are also experiencing, of an aging population. In his own home of Denmark he also notes problems in education, healthcare, and an increasingly lazy workforce.Though most of this book is pretty interesting, I do find that sometimes Booth's own opinion is presented too much as fact. Sure, this is fine when looking at the cultural aspects. He is not afraid to express his own opinion of what is great and what he finds is rather odious. However, it seems like he sometimes tries to poke holes in things he learned from interviews with experts. Many times in this book he talks with people associated with universities and other such professionals. Surely their ideas are worth something. He also throws in criticisms of things like right-wing political parties and people he just seems to disagree with.Learning about the Nordic countries is especially prudent today. For example, in his campaign for President of the United States, Bernie Sanders has often espoused the so-called "Nordic Model" as something America should emulate. There are certainly interesting things to learn about what has worked and what has not from these countries. Still, besides the serious content, this is an entertaining look at five European countries and I would recommend this to those looking to learn a little bit about the world around them.
I have a relative who is always blathering about the Nordic model of government, saying things like "In Norway they get free healthcare." My standard response is that nothing is free, in Norway they tax the middle class at 40% to pay for healthcare. if you want to talk about increasing taxes to pay for social services, I can discuss the topic. But nothing is free.So my main motivation for reading this book was to understand a bit more of the reality of the Nordic nations, rather than the Utopian fantasy-fairy tales believed by some in the US. The author, Michael Booth, is an Englishman married to a Danish woman. This status seems to give him a bit of an insider-outsider perspective that enhances the book. He's spent a lot of time in Scandanavian nations and has an obvious fondness for many of the people and traditions. But as an outsider, he can see and analyze aspects of culture that might be invisible to a native.The three main details that stuck in my mind as an American reader of the book were: (a) the absolutely astronomical taxes (up to 180% on new cars!); (b) the high levels of alcohol abuse; (c) and the secularized Lutheranism that seems to be the guiding philosophy of these nations (work hard, don't think too much of yourself or stand out from the crowd, trust authority to know what's best for you, etc). I was reminded of Roland Huntford's 1971 book The New Totalitarians about the Social Democrats who had ruled Sweden for decades and slowly increased government control over society. Booth shows that these sorts of socialist-leaning policies have been gradually rolled back in many Nordic nations, due to their negative side effects. Booth quotes someone who notes that anyone with personal ambition tends to leave for the US where they can take more risks -- but have more opportunities.In short, a great introduction to these nations. Booth writes honestly about the positive and negative aspects of Scandinavia.
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