Drunk, face-down in the sand, Greg Palast almost has a gem with Vulture's Picnic. Almost. It reads like a scathing indictment of state-capitalism, of an incentuous relationship between global banking cartels, unregulated corporations, war-profiteers, and the governments that enable the unsustainable mess. In the end, Palast dismisses the reality that government regulation hasn't worked to keep these industries in check, has enabled it to predate the population, yet still promotes the flawed view that government just isn't powerful enough to suppress all of the negative effects that he banks on for book sales. Yeah, he is a bit full of himself, even a bit chauvinistic at times, evident in the noir-style that sometimes oozes onto the pages, but that part actually makes for good storytelling. Given his obsessive ability to relate historical events and relate them effectively into a story, it is almost unbelievable that he dismisses instances of totalitarian governments in history that, by all accounts, should have been able to wipe out the problems that he believes just a little more government can fix. If government is the problem, how can more government be the solution? By indicting every corporatist he comes across, Palast falls short of convincingly convicting any one of them. A lot of red herrings, false starts and dead-ends. Not his fault of course, his courageous journalism and investigative approach means the playing field is steeply stacked against him. As a reader you come away feeling more defeated than ever. The bad guys truly have won, despite Palast saving Liberia. Wait, but wasn't this book supposed to be about the BP spill..? It's unfocused, manic, full of great insights, and as a narrative, ultimately quite disappointing. It's also written for Palast fans (quite a few inside references to his life and work that could have only come from reading his past volumes--which I hadn't) and error-strewn (Steve Schwartzman runs Blackstone, not Blackrock). It's about 100 pages too long and the inclusion of the Japan nuclear stuff at the tail-end of the book seemed to be a particularly unnecessary diversion which added little to whatever steam the main narratives had been building up.As a manifesto for the few hundred progressives left in America, it still might be worth a read. Does a lot of good work casting doubt on liberalism's sacred cows, like NPR (National Petroleum Radio) the NY Times and Obama, and does a particularly good job of showing how mega corporations literally own every part of the process: the media, courts, congress and the White House. I'm happy Greg Palast is out there doing this kind of work, I just don't want to ever have to read one of his books again.
What do You think about Vulture's Picnic (2012)?
I'm not sure I like his style; it was really difficult for me to follow.
—Mon
Ugh. Tedious, though I'm sympathetic to what he's saying.
—Brittany
