The book is a history of wealth and income gaps in the US in the 20th century. The book documents that the gap between rich and poor declined greatly in mid-century—he refers to this as the "Great Compression"—then widened in the last two decades to levels higher than those in the 1920s. Most economists—including Krugman himself—have regarded the late 20th century divergence as resulting largely from changes in technology and trade, but now Krugman writes—particularly in Chapters 1, 3, and 4—that government policies—particularly the establishment of, and subsequent attacks on, the social safety net or "welfare state"—has played a much greater role both in reducing the gap in the 1930s through 1970s, and in widening it in the 1980s through the present. He talks about the history of American conservatism, both, in Chapter 2, pre-New Deal conservatism—dominating the period between the American Civil War and the Great Depression (which he calls the "Long Gilded Age")—and, in Chapter 6, modern-day "movement conservatism";—he argues—particularly in Chapters 5, 6, and 9—that the subtle exploitation by movement conservatives of racial and cultural resentments through small-government rhetoric (see "dog-whistle politics") and of national-security fears were key in the movement''s ability to win national elections—even though its policies concentrating wealth at the top should be deeply unpopular. He talks extensively, in Chapter 6, about William F. Buckley, Jr.''s, Irving Kristol''s and Ronald Reagan''s role in building the movement—and, in Chapters 7 and 8, about the role of "institutions [particularly labor unions] and norms [particularly corporate policy]"—vis a vis government policy—in increasing or decreasing economic inequality. He rebukes the George W. Bush administration for policies that were currently widening the gap between the rich and poor. Nevertheless, Krugman expresses optimism in Chapter 10 that demographic trends—particularly on race and culture—and what he sees as conservative overreach during the Bush years—are creating a new center-left political environment and are slowly undermining the conservative movement. (He references John Judis and Ruy Texeira''s book, The Emerging Democratic Majority.) Krugman proposes, in Chapters 11 and 12, that Democrats propose a "new New Deal", which includes placing more emphasis on social and medical programs—particularly universal health care—and less on national defense. Finally, in Chapter 13, he talks about what it means to be a "liberal", about the rise in new progressive organizations—which, unlike conservative think tanks, publications and other organizations, are actually more de-centralized and independent-thinking,—and how many more people appear to support "liberal" policies than are prepared to use that word to describe themselves.

The Conscience of a Liberal

The 1919 season opens with the Vandergelts and Emersons packing the God''s Wives treasures found (in the previous book) for Cyrus Vandergelt by his adopted son Bertie. Just before the Service d''Antiquités representative comes to inspect their work, several items disappear together with the conservator Cyrus had hired on Sethos''s recommendation. The conservator''s skeleton is found later in the desert, without the objects. These events coincide with a visit from Emerson''s brother Walter, his wife Evelyn, their daughter Lia and her husband David (the Emersons'' adoptive son), plus their small children. Meanwhile, the Emersons meet up with a Justin FitzRoyce, a young person with a strange mental malady, and his companion, François, who quickly develops a dislike of the family after Emerson mistakes his attentions to the boy for physical abuse. Justin is travelling with his grandmother, the elderly, sometimes confused, Mrs FitzRoyce; also with them is her companion, who turns out to be Maryam, the teenage daughter of Sethos, fallen on hard times. Amelia tries to befriend Maryam and helps her to rebuild her relationship with her father when he arrives to visit. She also reassures Maryam that the Emersons were not responsible for the death of the girl''s mother, Bertha. Along the way, the Emerson family is dogged by a series of mysterious events ranging from strange pranks to near-fatal accidents. Most of these seem to be directed at the Arab servants, including Selim, who is badly injured when a motor-car imported by Emerson crashes as a result of the wheel-nuts having been removed. The exception is a mystery attacker who targets Maryam. In addition, Ramses is temporarily taken prisoner and drugged by a mysterious woman disguised as the goddess Hathor. The same woman later reappears at the temple ruins during the night but the Emersons fail to apprehend her. As the head of the Service arrives to take possession of the treasure for transport to Cairo, Nefret is captured by the criminal gang intent on stealing the treasure, and held prisoner on the dahabeeyah belonging to the FitzRoyces, as is Emerson when he impetuously comes to rescue her. "Justin" is revealed as Maryam''s elder half-sister and "Mrs FitzRoyce" as an old associate of Bertha''s. Through Emerson''s efforts, Nefret escapes through a window of the boat, to be picked up by passing fishermen; meanwhile Maryam, who is implicated in the plot, shows her true loyalties by rescuing Emerson. The final chase scene has Amelia, Rameses, Sethos, Selim, Daoud, Cyrus, Walter, and Bertie racing down-river armed to the teeth to rescue Nefret and Emerson, and is unlike any other scene in the Amelia series.

Children of the Storm

Clone Mark masquerades as Miles Vorkosigan (his progenitor) and dupes Miles'' mercenary force, the Dendarii, into a mission to free clones held "prisoner" on Jackson''s Whole, an anything-goes freebooters'' planet where Mark was created and raised. When Miles finds out, he attempts to rescue his troops and his brother from the mess Mark has made, but is killed by a needle-grenade. He is frozen in a cryonic chamber on the spot, but the medic in charge becomes separated from the rest of the men while retreating under fire. The medic uses an automated shipping system to send the chamber to safety, but is killed before he can tell anyone its destination. The Dendarii take Mark to Miles'' parents on Barrayar. Cordelia accepts him as another son and has him acknowledged legally as a member of the family. After a while, Mark concludes that Miles is still on Jackson''s Whole, and decides to go there himself to look for him, since Barrayaran Imperial Security does not believe him. Cordelia helps by buying him a ship. Meanwhile, the frozen Miles has been resuscitated by the Duronas, a research group cloned from a medical genius, who are employed by Jackson''s Whole magnate Baron Fell. His memory takes some time to return, and the doctors treating him do not know whether he is Mark, Miles or Admiral Naismith (Miles'' cover identity with the Dendarii). Mark finds Miles, but is captured by Miles'' old nemesis, Baron Ryoval, held prisoner, and tortured for five days. His personality fragments into four sub-personalities: Gorge the glutton, Grunt the sexual pervert, Howl the masochist, and Killer the assassin. Together, the first three protect the fragile Mark persona, while Killer bides his time. When Ryoval''s assistant informs him that Mark seems to be enjoying the torture, a frustrated Ryoval decides to study his victim alone. Killer takes the opportunity to kill Ryoval, allowing Mark to escape. He sells Ryoval''s secrets, accessible through a code ring, to Baron Fell for a large sum of money and permission for the Durona Group to emigrate. Miles'' short death and revivification have serious repercussions for his health. Mark has his own problems, thanks to his strange upbringing, complicated by the torture. When he asks his mother for help, she sends him to Beta Colony for psychiatric treatment and therapy.

Mirror Dance

The story is about the Gregg family that hunts ducks for fun and is narrated by an unnamed eight-year-old girl who lives next door to them. The girl possesses a power to punish people who make her cross called "the magic finger" but she has no control over what it does or when it happens. This gets her into big trouble, she wishes she did not have this finger because it is taking over her life (her dislike of her power stems from an incident at school, where she gave her teacher whiskers and a tail when she was punished for doing badly in a spelling test). Although they are her friends, the girl becomes annoyed at the Greggs shooting and killing ducks and thus she points the magic finger at them. The next day the Greggs wake up as tiny people with wings instead of arms and their house is taken over by four human-size ducks with arms instead of wings. The Greggs are forced to leave and build a nest in one of the trees in their garden where they spend the night. The next morning they wake up to find the large ducks with the Greggs'' guns standing under their tree, threatening to shoot in the same way that they have shot ducks. The Greggs promise never to hunt again and are changed back into normal humans. The next day, the girl goes to their house and finds the family smashing up their guns and setting up graves for the birds that they killed. They have even changed their name to "Egg"! The girl feels that things may have gotten a little out of hand but then hears a gun fired by another neighbouring family, the Coopers. She thus sets off, telling the Greggs that the Coopers will be nesting in the trees that night. * ISBN 0-04-833080-4 (hardcover, 1968) * ISBN 0-06-031382-5 (library binding, 1966) * ISBN 0-06-222222-7 (hardcover, 1966) bg:Вълшебният пръст es:El dedo mágico it:Il dito magico he:אצבע הקסם nl:De tovervinger

The Magic Finger

The story begins several years after the death of Hu Yidao. His son Hu Fei, raised by Ping A''si, inherits the Hu family''s skills and becomes a powerful martial artist. While travelling around the land in search of adventure, Hu Fei encounters Feng Tiannan, a ruthless villain, and he wants to kill Feng to deliver justice for Feng''s victims. He also meets a young maiden named Yuan Ziyi, who shows signs of affection towards him. She stops Hu Fei from killing Feng Tiannan each time when he is close to killing the villain. Based on Ping A''si''s words, Hu Fei believes that the famous martial artist Miao Renfeng is responsible for his father''s death. He refrains from killing Miao Renfeng after finding the latter, because Miao has been tricked by an enemy and is temporarily blinded by a deadly poison. He is so impressed with Miao''s sense of chivalry that he starts wondering if Ping A''si was mistaken about Miao. He decides to help Miao Renfeng and journeys to find a cure for his eyes. He meets Cheng Lingsu, a young disciple of the deceased "King of Venoms". Hu Fei witnesses Cheng Lingsu defeating her three wicked seniors with her calm and wits. She agrees to help him cure Miao Renfeng''s eyes. When Miao Renfeng regains his sight he confesses that he had indeed killed Hu Yidao unintentionally several years ago. Hu Fei is filled with sorrow upon hearing the truth and leaves with Cheng Lingsu. Cheng Lingsu and Hu Fei become sworn siblings. Travelling together, the two then stumble upon an election for a new leader of the wulin (martial artists'' community), hosted by the general Fukang''an. The election is part of Fukang''an''s plot to instigate turmoil in the wulin, which is part of the government''s plan to control the martial artists'' community. Hu Fei and Cheng Lingsu disguise themselves and participate in the election. With help from Yuan Ziyi, the trio combined to expose Fukang''an''s scheme and disrupt the meeting. They are attacked by enemies and Hu Fei is poisoned while trying to shield Cheng Lingsu with his body. Cheng loses her life trying to save Hu, and reveals before her death that she is in love with him. Hu Fei is filled with anguish by the tragic loss of Cheng Lingsu. After Cheng''s funeral, he meets Yuan Ziyi again, who tells him that she had already taken an oath to be a nun in her childhood, and cannot be together with him even though she loves him. She places her palms together and recites a silent prayer for Hu Fei before leaving.

Other Tales of the Flying Fox

The story begins in the Soviet Union, just after the end of the Russian Civil War. A lonely engineer, Mstislav Los'', designs and constructs a revolutionary pulse detonation rocket and decides to set course for Mars. Looking for a companion for the travel, he finally leaves Earth with a retired soldier, Alexei Gusev. Arriving on Mars, they discover that the planet is inhabited by an advanced civilization. However, the gap between the ruling class and the workers is very strong and reminiscent of the early capitalism, with workers living in underground corridors near their machines. Later in the novel, it is explained that Martians are descendants of both local races and of Atlanteans who came there after the sinking of their home continent. Mars is now ruled by Engineers but all is not well. While speaking before an assembly, their leader, Toscoob, says that the city must be destroyed to ease the fall of Mars. Aelita, Toscoob''s beautiful daughter and the princess of Mars, later reveals to Los'' that the planet is dying, that the polar ice caps are not melting as they once did and the planet is facing an environmental catastrophe. While the adventurous Gusev takes the lead of a popular uprising against the ruler the more intellectual Los'' becomes enamored with Aelita. When the rebellion is crushed, they are forced to flee Mars and eventually make it back to Earth. The trip is prolonged with the effects of high speed and time dilation resulting in a loss of over three years and the exact fate of Aelita herself is unknown. It is hinted that she actually survived because Los'' receives radio messages from Mars mentioning his name.

Aelita

Pushing the Bear tells the story of Cherokee removal and what is now referred to as the Trail of Tears. Diane Glancy weaves the story together through the voices of a variety of characters, the majority of whom are Cherokee Indians, but also through historical documents, missionaries and the soldiers who were responsible for guiding the Cherokee along the trail. Glancy describes the horror and tribulations close to thirteen thousand Cherokee Indians faced from the months of September 1838 to February 1839. Maritole, a mother, wife, daughter and aunt, is the main voice in the novel. Her character reveals the thoughts of the women, the relationship between soldiers and those walking the trail, and the losses, both emotionally and physically, that the people suffered. Through the plethora of voices, Glancy is presents the knowledge of Indian Removal, with the perspectives of those who walked, suffered and died along the trail. After nine hundred miles of trudging through mountains, snow and water, the bitterness and pain experienced by the Cherokee is combined with their sense of helplessness and their sorrow over losing their connection with their land, their livelihood, their traditional gender roles, and their family. The novel travels chronologically through each month and location along the Trail of Tears. Glancy taps into an emotional and horrific, but historically accurate account of what many now refer to as Indian genocide. In an interview with Jennifer Andrews for the American Indian Quarterly, Glancy tells Andrews that “the land had to give me permission to write. The ancestors had to give permission to write, too. For instance, I started off Pushing the Bear with one voice, and it wasn’t enough. I had to go back and add her husband and everybody who had traveled with them on the Trail of Tears. It takes many voices to tell a story, and I think we carry those voices within us” (Andrews 651).

Pushing the Bear

The Hatcher and Tubman families decide to spend their summer vacation together in Maine, not next door to each other, but in the same house, much to the disgust of Peter Hatcher and his arch-rival Sheila Tubman. Fudge plans to marry Sheila Tubman and Peter is disgusted. It took ten hours for the Hatcher family to drive to Maine. Jimmy Fargo (Peter''s friend) is able to come for a week, with his father, Frank Fargo. Sheila also plans to have a friend come named Mouse Ellis who is weird, but she catches Chickenpox and is unable to do so. Fudge meets a girl named Mitzi, who has a baseball glove she calls her "mitzi" and she also has a book about her called "Tell me a Mitzi." Fudge gets his own "mitzi" and Peter goes with him to the library that day. Fudge could not find the book he wanted, so they ask a librarian named Isobel. Peter falls in love with her and cannot stop thinking about her. Peter asks Fudge why he wants to marry Sheila in the first place, which was because he wanted her to protect him from " scary creepy monsters." Fudge quickly postpones the wedding because he has his own can of " Mitzi''s monster spray" and it is solved. The Hatchers and Tubmans are related at the end of the story because their grandparents, Muriel and Buzzy, got married. Peter''s brother, Fudge, no longer plans to be a bird when he grows up, but instead a bird breeder, or as he mispronounces it, "bird breather", to which Sheila immediately corrects him by saying he cannot breathe for birds. Other subplots include Tootsie accidentally helping Mr. Fargo''s art business when she toddles across his work and Fudge being chosen as a team captain in a baseball game sponsored by a retired player of the Boston Red Sox, Big Apfel, much to Peter''s dismay. One last one is how Fudge meets Mitzi. Uncle Feather, Fudge''s myna bird, went missing and Peter and Fudge went looking for him. They rang the doorbells to different houses and eventually met up with Mitzi''s Grandma. The next day they met Mitzi. Towards the end of the book a little romance is spread between Peter and Sheila, though they agree that they will always hate each other.

Fudge-a-Mania

The plot device employed in Josephine Mutzenbacher is that of first-person narrative, structured in the format of a memoir. The story is told from the point of view of an accomplished aging 50-year-old Viennese courtesan who is looking back upon the sexual escapades she enjoyed during her unbridled youth in Vienna. Contrary to the what the title indicates, almost the entirety of the book takes place when Josephine is between the ages of 5–12 years old, before she actually becomes a licensed prostitute in the brothels of Vienna. The book begins when she is five years old and ends when she is twelve years old and about to enter professional service in a brothel. Although the book makes use of many "euphemisms" for human anatomy and sexual behavior that seem quaint today, its content is entirely pornographic. The actual progression of events amounts to little more than a graphic, unapologetic description of the reckless sexuality exhibited by the heroine, all before reaching her 13th year. The style bears more than a passing resemblance to the Marquis de Sade''s The 120 Days of Sodom in its unabashed "laundry list" cataloging of all manner of taboo sexual antics from incest, rape and homosexuality to child prostitution, group sex and fellatio.

Josephine Mutzenbacher

The story begins with Elena travelling to Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania to follow up a lead the Pack have come across on believe.com which purports to be able to prove the existence of werewolves. However, when she meets her contact, a young witch named Paige Winterbourne, she has information that Elena finds extremely disturbing. Not only does she claim to know about werewolves, but more specifically about her. It is clear that the posting on the website was a lure designed to bring Elena to Pittsburgh because of problems other supernaturals have been having with a group headed by Tyrone Winsloe. Elena is skeptical, having given no credence up to this point that other supernatural beings such as witches and vampires could exist. The claims of Paige and her mother, Ruth, sound like conspiracy theories that Elena finds hard to believe. Unable to sleep, she goes out that night for a run, but is followed by a stalker with military training. Elena evades him only to discover that he has colleagues and that they are trying to capture not only herself, but also the Winterbournes. In the fight, Elena kills one of the men, Mark, and the three women find themselves confronting a half-demon able to teleport whom Elena nicknames ''Houdini'', who works for Tyrone Winsloe. Ruth casts a spell which traps him temporarily and the three women make their escape. Elena calls Jeremy and, the next morning, the two of them attend a meeting of the Inter-racial Council. There they are told about a shaman who had been kidnapped and taken away from his home in Virginia to a compound run by Tyrone Winsloe and Lawrence Matasumi. With his abilities of Astral projection, the shaman is able to not only determine that he is not the only captive, but also to contact the shaman on the Inter-racial Council, Kenneth. Following the discussion about how to handle matters, Jeremy declines to return to the meeting after dinner. His priority is first and foremost to the Pack and its safety. Whilst he is prepared to join forces with the Council if necessary, it is only a temporary measure as the Pack has always fought its own battles. That night Clay arrives. The three werewolves are attacked by men working for Winsloe, but they are all killed. The Pack are suspicious because the only people who knew they were in the area where the members of the Council. So, the following day, when they arrive at the meeting, they do so with the head of one of the men in a bag. They decline any offer to align themselves with the Council and leave. On the way back, Elena is kidnapped and taken to the compound. There she becomes involved with many of the other residents, being ''befriended'' by Leah and Sondra, as well as helping Doctor Carmichael in the infirmary. She discovers Ruth has also been kidnapped. The witch is particularly interested in another prisoner, Savannah Levine. However, ''poltergeist activity'', that many of those in the compound associate with Savannah, plays a role in the death of Ruth. Sondra Bauer becomes obsessed with turning herself into a werewolf and injects herself with some of Elena''s saliva. Her body reacts as if she has been bitten, and she is taken to the infirmary. While there, Bauer kills Carmichael and Elena is forced to sedate her. Bauer is transferred to the cell beside Elena''s. Tyrone Winsloe takes an interest in Elena, wanting her to wear skimpy clothing as well as watch, and participate in, his ''hunts''. Prisoners such as Patrick Lake and Armen Haig are killed during these and it becomes clear that Elena is next. Winsloe brings her photographs that he claims are of Clay and that Clay is now dead. An apparent system malfunction provides the opportunity for Elena, Sondra, Leah and Savannah to attempt escape. Bauer loses control and is killed by the guards. Leah and Savannah get left behind when an elevator door closes on Elena. She makes a run for it, Changing into a wolf, and is chased by dogs. Clay finds her and takes her back to Jeremy and the others who are in New Brunswick, Canada. After telling her story, the group devise a plan to free the others from the compound and to put a stop to Ty Winsloe and his associates. Clay, Paige, Adam and Elena enter the compound first. They kill the dogs and disable the vehicles before entering the building itself. Tucker and the guards are killed or disabled before they enter the cell block. There they find Savannah. Curtis Zaid is revealed to be Isaac Katzen when he attacks Paige and the others. Katzen is killed. Leah is shown to be the one really responsible for the poltergeist activity. She attempts to snatch Savannah, but is prevented and escapes. Clay and Elena track Winsloe and kill him.

Stolen

The book features a mad scientist, De Selby, who tries to destroy the world by removing all the oxygen from the air. He has also many strange inventions. He exploits the theory of relativity and invents a kind of time travelling machine, which he uses to age his whiskey, creating brews that have been aged for many decades in just a few hours. Saint Augustine and James Joyce both have speaking parts in the novel. James Joyce, after forging his own obituary to escape being drafted to fight in the Second World War, was serving pints in a small pub. Saint Augustine, on the other hand, appeared in a magical underwater cave and held a conversation with De Selby. The mad scientist De Selby leads the two main characters, Hackett and Mick, to the cave, to witness this conversation. Many prominent elements of the book, particularly De Selby himself, the eccentric policemen, and the atomic theory of the bicycle, were taken from O''Brien''s much earlier novel The Third Policeman, because he had not been able to find a publisher for it. The latter novel was published posthumously. fr:L''Archiviste de Dublin

The Dalkey Archive

For almost fifteen years, old Berta had spent everyday sitting outside, watching over the little village Viscos, talking with her deceased husband. She is waiting for the devil to come, as her husband predicted. One day a stranger appears with the intention of staying one week in the village. In the woods he buries 11 bars of gold. On the way back he meets Chantal Prym, a young and beautiful barmaid, who is bored of the idyllic scenery and slow pace of life. Regularly she seduces tourists in the hope that one of them will prove to be her escape route. The stranger shows her the buried treasure and promises that it will belong to the villagers if they agree to kill someone. There is a ferocious battle within the young woman; a battle between her angel and her devil. She sees in the gold the ticket to finally escape. Still, something holds her back. After some days, she decides to tell what the stranger has proposed, trusting that they will refuse. The people’s reaction, however, plants the seed of doubt inside of Chantal. Now she fears for her own life. As an act of desperation, she plans to abandon Viscos with one of the stranger’s bars. Destiny sends a rogue wolf, which threatens Chantal’s life. The stranger arrives, and both escape. Meanwhile the villagers assemble to choose their victim. The scapegoat they choose is Berta, since she is already old and serves no purpose in the village. Before the villagers shoot a sedated Berta, Chantal convinces them that under no circumstances murder is justified; our conduct is a matter of control and choice.

Over 8000 Takeaways For Your Brain!

Read - Listen - Learn

The Conscience of a Liberal

By Paul Krugman

Children of the Storm

By Barbara Mertz

Mirror Dance

By Lois McMaster Bujold

The Magic Finger

By Roald Dahl

Other Tales of the Flying Fox

By Louis Cha

Aelita

By Aleksey Nikolayevich Tolstoy

Pushing the Bear

By Diane Glancy

Fudge-a-Mania

By Judy Blume

Josephine Mutzenbacher

No Author Listed

Stolen

By Kelley Armstrong

The Dalkey Archive

By Flann O''Brien

The Devil and Miss Prym

By Paulo Coelho