NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER • A NEW YORK TIMES NOTABLE BOOK • America’s Bitter Pill is Steven Brill’s acclaimed book on how the Affordable Care Act; or Obamacare; was written; how it is being implemented; and; most important; how it is changing—and failing to change—the rampant abuses in the healthcare industry. It’s a fly-on-the-wall account of the titanic fight to pass a 961-page law aimed at fixing America’s largest; most dysfunctional industry. It’s a penetrating chronicle of how the profiteering that Brill first identified in his trailblazing Time magazine cover story continues; despite Obamacare. And it is the first complete; inside account of how President Obama persevered to push through the law; but then failed to deal with the staff incompetence and turf wars that crippled its implementation. But by chance America’s Bitter Pill ends up being much more—because as Brill was completing this book; he had to undergo urgent open-heart surgery. Thus; this also becomes the story of how one patient who thinks he knows everything about healthcare “policy†rethinks it from a hospital gurney—and combines that insight with his brilliant reporting. The result: a surprising new vision of how we can fix American healthcare so that it stops draining the bank accounts of our families and our businesses; and the federal treasury. Praise for America’s Bitter Pill “A tour de force . . . a comprehensive and suitably furious guide to the political landscape of American healthcare . . . persuasive; shocking.â€â€”The New York Times “An energetic; picaresque; narrative explanation of much of what has happened in the last seven years of health policy . . . [Brill] has pulled off something extraordinary.â€â€”The New York Times Book Review “A thunderous indictment of what Brill refers to as the ‘toxicity of our profiteer-dominated healthcare system.’ â€â€”Los Angeles Times “A sweeping and spirited new book [that] chronicles the surprisingly juicy tale of reform.â€â€”The Daily Beast “One of the most important books of our time.â€â€”Walter Isaacson “Superb . . . Brill has achieved the seemingly impossible—written an exciting book about the American health system.â€â€”The New York Review of BooksFrom the Hardcover edition.
#109575 in Books Akhil Reed Amar 2006-09-12 2006-09-12Original language:EnglishPDF # 1 9.11 x 1.41 x 6.13l; 1.61 #File Name: 0812972724672 pagesAmerica s Constitution A Biography
Review
0 of 0 people found the following review helpful. Detailed and well-writtenBy DeePhillyVery detailed and well written book about our nation's most important document3 of 3 people found the following review helpful. Living and Breathing America's BeginningsBy J. W. NystromThese are times when the US Constitution is on the forefront of American political and social debate. How many Americans have read and understood the Constitution; originally flawed by the 3/5s proposition? How many have traveled the intellectual and political roads that led to the most powerful and influential political document since the Magna Carta and the Mayflower Compact? What better a guide and companion than Yale law professor Akhil Reed Amar's monumental work; "American's Constitution: A Biography"?Amar takes the 4000+ words that are the signature of American life; admired the world over; and gives us a sturdy volume (657 pages); exhaustively researched; written with clarity and style. Anyone interested in American life and values should not fail to read (and re-read) this near classic.Why a "biography"? Because the US Constitution is at once a rock solid declaration; and a celebration of a modern democracy and; unlike other antecedent models of government; has a built-in safeguard against abuse through its compelling amend-ability. It has a life; it was born; it was nourished; it matured and is subject to re-birth through the will of the people.Amar has made an adventure story of the documentary founding of the nation and has parsed the enduring words and phrases whose meanings and interpretations and re-interpretations over the nation's history are forever marked by the glorious and majestic opening line; WE THE PEOPLE. . . .Scholars and laymen alike will be enriched by this book.2 of 3 people found the following review helpful. Should you desire to learn more about the Constitution!By john stanhausIf you have a genuine curiosity about the Constitution; I highly recommend this book. I caution you that it will most likely not be a quick read; for as the author notes he aims higher than the ninth grade level targeted by most general classroom textbooks; as he attempt to employ a holistic approach synthesizing law; history and political science; to create his fascinating constitutional story. I often found myself googling terms and discussions I wanted to learn more about as I went along.I recommend reading the entire text of the constitution; along with the preface and the postscript BEFORE jumping into the book itself. This will help you better appreciate his method which he describes as unique to the discussion the constitution ; as well as pointing out specific sections where the views expressed in the book are either original on his part; or subject to different interpretations.I feel I am a much better informed citizen for having read it.
