Wendell Potter worked for the big health insurer, CIGNA, as a public relations executive until around 2009, when, out of an act of conscience he decided he could not work for them any more. The death of Nataline Sarkisyan, because she was denied coverage by CIGNA, was the catalyst in his leaving the company and becoming a critic of the industry.

Mr. Potter takes a clear stand against the for-profit health care industry and supports whole heartedly the 2010 Affordable Health Care Act passed under the Obama administration. Having worked for years spinning the news for a health care company, Wendell Potter speaks credibly and knowledgeably about health care in America.

This book isn’t just about the health care industry but, rather, on the multi-million dollar campaigns that corporations like it have waged to change minds by distorting the truth. How it has influenced public opinion through the media and the lobbying it does in Washington. In fact, the book provides a mini history of public relations and how, disturbingly, it is embracing more controversial and unethical practices.

In the paperback edition there is a resource guide that lists the websites of advocacy groups for almost every state, unions and government sources for anybody interested in pursuing the health care reform issue further.

It's a timely and important book. Read it .

I picked up this book because I’m very interested in Iran and accounts of life during the Islamic Revolution. I was worried that I wouldn’t be able to get into this book because I really wasn’t familiar with Austen or Nabokov, but after reading the first few chapters it really wasn’t an issue. Central to Azar Nafisi’s memoir is the secret all women’s ( with one exception) book club that she forms after leaving her teaching position. The many books and authors that are discussed like Austen, Nabokov, James, Fitzgerald don’t take over her memoir but enrich it greatly. Through the bookclub not only is Western Literature being examined but also Iranian society. The members of the book club bring their own personal experiences of what it means to be a woman in the Islamic Republic to the discussions. At the heart of this book are the women who tried to make a place for themselves inside Iran while being treated like outsiders in their own country .

--- Highly Recommended

Javier Cercas’ book The Anatomy of a Moment is one long narrative history of the failed 23rd of February coup against the democratically elected government of Prime Minister Adolofo Suarez. At the center of the story was the forceful taking of the Cortes, Spain’s parliament, by military forces, all caught on tape by rolling news cameras. It was the video record left behind of Suarez standing up (actually sitting down) against the armed hostage takers that captures Cercas’ imagination and inspires him to explore the intracacies of the meaning of that day.

Cercas doesn’t go that deeply into Spanish history under Franco but stays focused on the events around the 23rd of February coup. He presents a thrilling conspiracy theory type account of the coup which is for Spain a moment similar to what Watergate or the JFK assassination is for Americans. The 23rd of February attempted coup came at a crucial time for a post- Franco,but not yet post-Francoism Spain transitioning from a Dictatorship to a Democracy. I have to say this is a book I could only recommend for serious readers of Spanish History or of Javier Cercas but not to first time readers of his work. Nevertheless, Cercas' exploration of the minds and motives of the people surrounding the coup makes for an interesting read.

This book was perfect for understanding where Iran is today since its revolution in 1979. Robert Baer focused primarily on Iran’s foreign policy strategy throughout the Middle East. He argues that Iran, far from being a regime run by apocalyptic religious fundamentalists out to nuke Israel, is a shrewd and calculating political player in the region. Its ultimate goal; to make the US accept Iran as an equal power and replace America as the dominating force in the Middle East. I was astonished reading about how far Iran’s reach goes and how much weight it carries in places like Iraq and Lebanon. Baer also notes how Iran’s proxy in Lebanon, Hezbollah, has won the hearts and minds of Shias and Sunnis alike throughout the Muslim world. This book should serve as a wake up call that Iran is winning in the Middle East and the US should either find a way towards peace or start gearing up for a hundred year war in the region.

Highlights:
- Iran wants nuclear capability but would never create a nuclear weapon , doing so would jeopardize all the progress that it has made.

- Iran plans on controlling all the oil fields in the Persian Gulf. With large Shia populations in many Gulf states this is making Arab countries more willing to acquiesce to Iran’s demands.

- Baer believes that our best option with Iran is diplomacy and that in the long run a US-Iran alliance will be successful in terms of stability in Iraq, better hopes of a peace deal between Israel and Palestine, and more show more cooperation in containing the Taliban in Afghanistan. show less