{"product_id":"9781250081568","title":"The Almost Nearly Perfect People : Behind the Myth of the Scandinavian Utopia","description":"\u003cstrong\u003eThe Almost Nearly Perfect People\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eAuthor(s): Michael Booth\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003cb\u003e\u003ci\u003eThe Christian Science Monitor'\u003c\/i\u003es #1 Best Book of the Year\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eA witty, informative, and popular travelogue about the Scandinavian countries and how they may not be as happy or as perfect as we assume, “\u003ci\u003eThe Almost Nearly Perfect People\u003c\/i\u003e offers up the ideal mixture of intriguing and revealing facts” (Laura Miller, \u003ci\u003eSalon\u003c\/i\u003e).\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eJournalist Michael Booth has lived among the Scandinavians for more than ten years, and he has grown increasingly frustrated with the rose-tinted view of this part of the world offered up by the Western media. In this timely book he leaves his adopted home of Denmark and embarks on a journey through all five of the Nordic countries to discover who these curious tribes are, the secrets of their success, and, most intriguing of all, what they think of one another.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eWhy are the Danes so happy, despite having the highest taxes? Do the Finns really have the best education system? Are the Icelanders as feral as they sometimes appear? How are the Norwegians spending their fantastic oil wealth? And why do all of them hate the Swedes? In \u003ci\u003eThe Almost Nearly Perfect People \u003c\/i\u003eMichael Booth explains who the Scandinavians are, how they differ and why, and what their quirks and foibles are, and he explores why these societies have become so successful and models for the world. Along the way a more nuanced, often darker picture emerges of a region plagued by taboos, characterized by suffocating parochialism, and populated by extremists of various shades. They may very well be almost nearly perfect, but it isn’t easy being Scandinavian.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eReview(s):\u003cbr\u003e\u003cp\u003e“Bill Bryson goes to Scandinavia.” —\u003ci\u003eChristian Science Monitor (Ten Best Books of January)\u003c\/i\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e“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...His chapters betray a clear affection for the icy region he calls home, and gradually allow a clearer identity for each country to emerge.” —\u003ci\u003eThe New York Times Book Review\u003c\/i\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e“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. \u003ci\u003eThe Almost Nearly Perfect People\u003c\/i\u003e offers up the ideal mixture of intriguing and revealing facts.” —\u003ci\u003eLaura Miller, Salon\u003c\/i\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e“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 \u003ci\u003eThe Innocents Abroad\u003c\/i\u003e 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.” —\u003ci\u003eThe New Yorker\u003c\/i\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e“Part travelogue, part cultural history, Michael Booth's book about Nordic countries is crammed with some truly bizarre facts.” —\u003ci\u003eEntertainment Weekly\u003c\/i\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e“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.” —\u003ci\u003eChicago Tribune\u003c\/i\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e“A lively exploration that's part ethnography and part travel guide…at its core, \u003ci\u003eThe Almost Nearly Perfect People \u003c\/i\u003eis 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.” —\u003ci\u003eThe Daily Beast (Hot Reads)\u003c\/i\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e“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?” —\u003ci\u003eThe New York Daily News\u003c\/i\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e“An entertaining, authoritative, and often funny travelogue.” —\u003ci\u003eMinneapolis Star Tribune\u003c\/i\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e“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.” —\u003ci\u003eThe Huffington Post\u003c\/i\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e“Booth is often funny, and he keeps us engaged.” —\u003ci\u003eThe Week\u003c\/i\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e“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 \u003ci\u003eThe Almost Nearly Perfect People\u003c\/i\u003e....a truly interesting and enjoyable piece of writing.” —\u003ci\u003eSeattle Post-Intelligencer\u003c\/i\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e“[Booth's] dry wit permeates the book…He has written an immersive, insightful, and often humorous examination of a most curious culture.” —\u003ci\u003ePublishers Weekly\u003c\/i\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e“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…” —\u003ci\u003eBooklist\u003c\/i\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e“Booth brings a deliciously droll sense of humor to his mission.” —\u003ci\u003eBookPage\u003c\/i\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e“An enjoyable, funny romp through the region.” —\u003ci\u003eThe Telegraph (London)\u003c\/i\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e“Booth offers an affectionate, observant, engaging look at Scandinavia, where trust, modesty and equality proudly prevail.” —\u003ci\u003eKirkus Reviews\u003c\/i\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e“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.” —\u003ci\u003eThe Observer (UK)\u003c\/i\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e“A rollicking travelogue . . . [and] a welcome rejoinder to those who cling to the idea of the Nordic region as a promised land.” —\u003ci\u003eFinancial Times\u003c\/i\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e“Sorry, liberals, Scandinavian countries aren't utopias.” —\u003ci\u003eThe New York Post\u003c\/i\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e“Entertaining stuff and very readable.” —\u003ci\u003eThe Independent (UK)\u003c\/i\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e“Booth is an assiduous excavator of entertaining facts.” —\u003ci\u003eThe Times (London)\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eLong-listed Christian Science Monitor Best Books of the Year (2015)\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eISBN:  9781250081568\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e ","brand":"Picador","offers":[{"title":"Paperback \/ softback","offer_id":40637529686222,"sku":"9781250081568","price":18.0,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0600\/7029\/7806\/products\/getimage_cfcfc070-071d-4da4-b8c0-830ce0e03982.jpg?v=1639016328","url":"https:\/\/pickwickbookshop.com\/products\/9781250081568","provider":"Pickwick Bookshop","version":"1.0","type":"link"}