The book has virtues: the theming is strong; the concepts are so very interesting. To me, though, the contract needed to be proofread a few more times before it was executed. I do not blame the writing because there are chapters that flow smoothly, chapters that felt ironed out, even slick. For the most part, though the small errors in formatting and the larger choices of structure in each individual sentence made the book feel unpleasant to actually read.
Read More“The problem with foreign oligarchs isn’t that they’re foreign, but that they’re oligarchs”
Read MoreStructurally, it swings between light personal anecdote and researched didacticism. Tonally, it is like talking to my dad. The author is a total square, and speaks with the casual paternalism born of white, Midwestern, upper middle-class comfort. Take, for example, the position of language regarding airline deregulation:
With some basic parameters and policies for the aviation industry set, the job seemed done.
Except, of course, it wasn’t. In fact, the government was just getting started. As bureaucracies tend to view such matters, if a few good rules are sufficient, then many more are even better. The aviation industry also became swept up in a wave of sentiment opposing free market competition in the 1930s.
I’m not sure whether the anecdotes or the history lessons taught me more, but Pull Over! was at its best when it blended the two.
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