Remove from your active Pick list Save for later

The almost nearly perfect people: the truth about the Nordic miracle

Booth, Michael2014

Book

Total copies: 1

Available: 1

Availability by location

Place reservation

Summary

Who are the Almost Nearly Perfect People? And why? The whole world is looking north to learn the secrets of Nordic exceptionalism: why are the Danes the happiest people in the world despite the highest taxes and the worst weather? Why do the Finns have the best education system, yet still think that all Swedish men are gay? How have the Swedes built the most egalitarian society in the world while simultaneously churning out the best pop songs? What are the Norwegians doing with their oil wealth, aside from paying Swedes to peel their bananas? How did the Icelanders get away with stealing all our money when there are only a couple of dozen of them? Journalist Michael Booth has lived among the Scandinavians for over ten years. In this thought-provoking, often humorous book he embarks on a journey through all five Nordic countries to discover who these people are, the secrets of their success, and what they think of each other. Along the way a darker picture emerges. If everyone is so happy, why all the pills and booze? When everyone earns the same amount of money, reads the same books, and has the same opinion about knitwear and beards things can get just a teensy bit dull. As he travels from the glaciers of Iceland to the immigrant estates of Malm, from Santa's grotto to the Danish Riviera, Booth exposes some of the more serious fissures in Nordic society: the fearmongering Islamophobia of the rising right wing; the increasing inequality and social division; the rampant alcoholism; and the vast, over-stretched public sectors propped up by ever-increasing taxation. It isn't easy being Nordic.