Another volume of adroit, unclouded analysis.
A thorough overview of the 2010 Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act, aka Obamacare, in its later years.
Williams (Compromised, 2015), a former three-term Washington state representative and a former deputy insurance commissioner, follows up on his debut effort, which charted the initial passage of Obamacare. Here, he offers an intelligent and thought-provoking examination of the health care legislation’s strategic implementation as well as its obstacles, including repeal efforts. The book focuses on the period from 2009 to 2017, winding through the act’s serpentine specifics. Along the way, Williams looks at the collective history of four presidential administrations and their advocacy for health care reform. He also stresses that the dismantling of the act has already begun, as opposing Republican legislators, as well as the Trump administration, continue to search for misinterpretations, workarounds, and loopholes; the 2017 GOP tax bill repealed the act’s individual insurance mandate starting in 2019. Readers who remain baffled by its complexities will appreciate the author’s plainspoken, thoughtful analysis, replete with descriptions of the varied tiers of coverage and benefits packages, and walk-throughs to help readers understand how things could radically change. Some chapters solely address dizzying political challenges or such vexing issues as prescription pricing, while others focus on the specific pitfalls of state-based exchanges, Medicaid expansion, and abortion coverage. Some of these sections could prove to be too dryly academic and technical for readers hoping for lay interpretations. Even so, Williams’ report is astute and relevant throughout, as he highlights the debate between those eager to preserve Obama’s legacy and those who support President Donald Trump, who has insisted that a reformed health care program will more efficiently serve the American people. Finally, the author opines on the future of the act amid a labyrinth of bureaucracy, insurer dominance, and political dissension.
Another volume of adroit, unclouded analysis.Pub Date: May 29, 2018
ISBN: 978-1-983684-71-5
Page Count: 292
Publisher: CreateSpace
Review Posted Online: May 27, 2018
Kirkus Reviews Issue: July 15, 2018
Review Program: Kirkus Indie
An enjoyable slice of 20th-century music journalism almost certain to provide something for most readers, no matter one’s...
Music journalist and musician Wald (Talking 'Bout Your Mama: The Dozens, Snaps, and the Deep Roots of Rap, 2014, etc.) focuses on one evening in music history to explain the evolution of contemporary music, especially folk, blues, and rock.
The date of that evening is July 25, 1965, at the Newport Folk Festival, where there was an unbelievably unexpected occurrence: singer/songwriter Bob Dylan, already a living legend in his early 20s, overriding the acoustic music that made him famous in favor of electronically based music, causing reactions ranging from adoration to intense resentment among other musicians, DJs, and record buyers. Dylan has told his own stories (those stories vary because that’s Dylan’s character), and plenty of other music journalists have explored the Dylan phenomenon. What sets Wald's book apart is his laser focus on that one date. The detailed recounting of what did and did not occur on stage and in the audience that night contains contradictory evidence sorted skillfully by the author. He offers a wealth of context; in fact, his account of Dylan's stage appearance does not arrive until 250 pages in. The author cites dozens of sources, well-known and otherwise, but the key storylines, other than Dylan, involve acoustic folk music guru Pete Seeger and the rich history of the Newport festival, a history that had created expectations smashed by Dylan. Furthermore, the appearances on the pages by other musicians—e.g., Joan Baez, the Weaver, Peter, Paul, and Mary, Dave Van Ronk, and Gordon Lightfoot—give the book enough of an expansive feel. Wald's personal knowledge seems encyclopedic, and his endnotes show how he ranged far beyond personal knowledge to produce the book.
An enjoyable slice of 20th-century music journalism almost certain to provide something for most readers, no matter one’s personal feelings about Dylan's music or persona.Pub Date: July 25, 2015
ISBN: 978-0-06-236668-9
Page Count: 368
Publisher: Dey Street/HarperCollins
Review Posted Online: May 15, 2015
Kirkus Reviews Issue: June 1, 2015
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK TO SCREEN
BOOK TO SCREEN
BOOK TO SCREEN
Stricter than, say, Bergen Evans or W3 ("disinterested" means impartial — period), Strunk is in the last analysis...
Privately published by Strunk of Cornell in 1918 and revised by his student E. B. White in 1959, that "little book" is back again with more White updatings.
Stricter than, say, Bergen Evans or W3 ("disinterested" means impartial — period), Strunk is in the last analysis (whoops — "A bankrupt expression") a unique guide (which means "without like or equal").Pub Date: May 15, 1972
ISBN: 0205632645
Page Count: 105
Publisher: Macmillan
Review Posted Online: Oct. 28, 2011
Kirkus Reviews Issue: May 1, 1972
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