Dennis Sewell
Learning From The Mob
THE ATLANTIC MONTHLY reporter Eric Schlosser's previous book, Fast Food Nation, was subtitled 'The Dark Side of the All American Meal'. In Reefer Madness he goes underground to explore the dark side of America's economy. His best estimate of the size of the illegal contribution to the United States's GDP is $650 billion, more than three times what the Federal Government spends on Medicare.
Schlosser is a Michael Moore without the bluster, the beer belly or the super-sized ego. While Moore plays it slapstick, Schlosser is ironic. While Moore is irritatingly ideological, Schlosser more effectively subverts unregulated free markets by making them seem decidedly un-American.
His new book consists of what are essentially three separate
Sign Up to our newsletter
Receive free articles, highlights from the archive, news, details of prizes, and much more.@Lit_Review
Follow Literary Review on Twitter
The first holiday camps had an 'ethos of muscular health as a marker of social respectability, and were alcohol-free. How different from our modern Costa Brava – not to mention the innumerable other coasts around the world now changed forever'.
https://literaryreview.co.uk/from-mont-blanc-to-magaluf
'The authorities are able to detain individuals in solitary confinement for up to six months at a secret location', which 'increases the risk to the prisoner of torture'.
@lucyjpop looks at two cases of China's brutal crackdown on free expression.
https://literaryreview.co.uk/xu-zhiyong-thupten-lodoe
'"The Last Colony" is, among other things, part of the campaign to shift the British position through political pressure. As with all good propaganda, Sands’s case is based in truth, if not the whole of it.'
https://literaryreview.co.uk/empire-strikes-back