
The Almost Nearly Perfect People
Behind the Myth of the Scandinavian Utopia
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Narrated by:
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Ralph Lister
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By:
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Michael Booth
About this listen
Journalist Michael Booth has lived among the Scandinavians for more than 10 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 audiobook, 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.
Why 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 The Almost Nearly Perfect People, Michael 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.
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-
Story
When she was suddenly given the opportunity of a new life in rural Jutland, journalist and archetypal Londoner Helen Russell discovered a startling statistic: the happiest place on earth isn't Disneyland but Denmark, a land often thought of by foreigners as consisting entirely of long, dark winters, cured herring, Lego and pastries. What is the secret to their success? Are happy Danes born or made?
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Interesting content. Unfortunate delivery.
- By Jennifer Soudagar on 11-13-15
By: Helen Russell
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The Search for the Genuine
- Nonfiction, 1970-2015
- By: Jim Harrison
- Narrated by: Traber Burns
- Length: 12 hrs and 2 mins
- Unabridged
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New York Times bestselling author Jim Harrison (1937-2016) was a writer with a poet’s economy of style and trencherman’s appetites and ribald humor. In The Search for the Genuine, a collection of new and previously published essays, the giant of letters muses on everything from grouse hunting and fishing to Zen Buddhism and matters of the spirit, including reported pieces on Yellowstone and shark-tagging in the open ocean, commentary on writers from Bukowski to Neruda to Peter Matthiessen, and a heartbreaking essay on life on the US/Mexico border.
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A Life Well Celebrated
- By Nice guy on 11-18-22
By: Jim Harrison
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The Great Railway Bazaar
- By: Paul Theroux
- Narrated by: Frank Muller
- Length: 10 hrs and 53 mins
- Unabridged
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The Great Railway Bazaar is Paul Theroux's account of his epic journey by rail through Asia. Filled with evocative names of legendary train routes - the Direct-Orient Express, the Khyber Pass Local, the Delhi Mail from Jaipur, the Golden Arrow to Kuala Lumpur, the Hikari Super Express to Kyoto, and the Trans-Siberian Express - it describes the many places, cultures, sights and sounds he experienced and the fascinating people he met.
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Just about as good as it gets...
- By david d. on 03-27-11
By: Paul Theroux
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Korea
- The Impossible Country
- By: Daniel Tudor
- Narrated by: James Cameron Stewart
- Length: 13 hrs and 44 mins
- Unabridged
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Long overshadowed by Japan and China, South Korea is a small country that happens to be one of the great national success stories of the postwar period. From a failed state with no democratic tradition, ruined and partitioned by war, and sapped by a half-century of colonial rule, South Korea transformed itself in just 50 years into an economic powerhouse and a democracy that serves as a model for other countries. With no natural resources and a tradition of authoritarian rule, Korea managed to accomplish a second Asian miracle.
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Amazing book
- By Antoine on 12-14-18
By: Daniel Tudor
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Beyond the North Wind
- The Fall and Rise of the Mystic North
- By: Christopher McIntosh, Hilmar Orn Hilmarsson - foreword
- Narrated by: Simon Vance
- Length: 6 hrs and 4 mins
- Unabridged
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"The North" is simultaneously a location, a direction, and a mystical concept. Although this concept has ancient roots in mythology, folklore, and fairy tales, it continues to resonate today within modern culture. McIntosh leads listeners through the magical and spiritual history of the North, as well as its modern manifestations, as documented through physical records, such as runestones and megaliths, but also through mythology and lore. This mythic conception of a powerful, mysterious Northern civilization was known to the Greeks as "Hyberborea" - the "Land Beyond the North Wind".
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Mostly fringe
- By Meg on 11-28-20
By: Christopher McIntosh, and others
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National Park Encounters
- Case Files of the Strange & Mysterious: Volume 1
- By: Anonymous Ranger
- Narrated by: Virtual Voice
- Length: 5 hrs and 51 mins
- Unabridged
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Hidden within the sprawling beauty of America’s national parks are secrets that defy explanation. National Park Encounters: Case Files of the Strange & Mysterious pulls back the curtain on eerie tales and perplexing phenomena reported by rangers, visitors, and locals alike. From unsettling sightings of humanoid creatures to unidentified flying objects in the sky, this collection delves into some chilling and unexplainable accounts recorded. Each chapter explores a unique case through first-hand statements, journal excerpts, and reconstructed events, the book captures the fear, wonder, and...
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Stop AI
- By Steven on 03-31-25
By: Anonymous Ranger
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Dear Bob and Sue
- By: Matt Smith, Karen Smith
- Narrated by: David Colacci, Susan Ericksen
- Length: 14 hrs and 48 mins
- Unabridged
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Dear Bob and Sue is the story of our (Matt and Karen Smith's) journey to all 59 US National Parks. We wrote the book as a series of emails to our friends, Bob and Sue, in which we share our humorous and quirky observations. It is at times irreverent, unpredictable, and sarcastic, all in the spirit of humor. We describe a few of our experiences in each park but do not provide an exhaustive overview of each experience or park.
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Worst book I have ordered on Audible. So negative and not about their trip but everything that went wrong and bugged each other
- By Cindy on 11-02-18
By: Matt Smith, and others
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The Complete and Original Norwegian Folktales of Asbjørnsen and Moe
- By: Peter Christen Asbjørnsen, Jørgen Moe, Tiina Nunnally - translator, and others
- Narrated by: Ann Richardson
- Length: 13 hrs and 16 mins
- Unabridged
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Magic and myth inhabit these chapters in figures both familiar and strange. Giant trolls and talking animals are everywhere. The winds take human form. A one-eyed old woman might seem reminiscent of the Norse god Odin. We meet sly aunts, resourceful princesses, and devious robbers. These stories, set in Norway's majestic landscape of towering mountains and dense forests, are filled with humor, mischief, and sometimes surprisingly cruel twists of fate. All are rendered in the deceptively simple narrative style perfected by Asbjørnsen and Moe.
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I love these stories!
- By Taylor on 12-26-21
By: Peter Christen Asbjørnsen, and others
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Rice, Noodle, Fish
- Deep Travels Through Japan's Food Culture (Roads & Kingdoms Presents, Book 1)
- By: Matt Goulding
- Narrated by: Will Damron
- Length: 7 hrs and 49 mins
- Unabridged
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An innovative new take on the travel guide, Rice, Noodle, Fish decodes Japan's extraordinary food culture through a mix of in-depth narrative and insider advice. In this 5,000-mile journey through the noodle shops, tempura temples, and teahouses of Japan, Matt Goulding, cocreator of the enormously popular Eat This, Not That! book series, navigates the intersection between food, history, and culture, creating one of the most ambitious and complete books ever written about Japanese culinary culture from the Western perspective.
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Starts strong tapers off
- By Craig Bryan on 01-02-21
By: Matt Goulding
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The Girl from Norway
- By: Emma Pass
- Narrated by: Nathan Nolan, Rachel August
- Length: 10 hrs and 27 mins
- Unabridged
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1942. When Helda Dahlstrøm flees her abusive husband and Nazi-occupied Norway with her eight-year-old son she doesn't know if they'll make it out alive. In her desperate journey to safety she'll find safety on the rocky shores of the Shetland Islands, rescued by Canadian Flight Sergeant Bill Gauthier. As WWII's destruction rages at their doorsteps, can love find its way through the rubble?
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An easy read and not two different generations
- By paula wright on 11-10-23
By: Emma Pass
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The Shortest History of China
- From the Ancient Dynasties to a Modern Superpower: A Retelling for Our Times
- By: Linda Jaivin
- Narrated by: Nancy Wu
- Length: 7 hrs and 13 mins
- Unabridged
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From kung-fu to tofu, tea to trade routes, sages to silk, China has influenced cuisine, commerce, military strategy, aesthetics, and philosophy across the world for thousands of years. Chinese history is nothing if not messy. Heroes are also villains; prosperity mingles with violence; cultural vibrancy coexists with censorship and repression. Modern China is seen variously as an economic powerhouse, an icon of urbanization, a propaganda state, and an aggressive superpower seeking world domination.
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Loved it!
- By Emma on 10-23-24
By: Linda Jaivin
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I Want to Die but I Want to Eat Tteokbokki
- By: Baek Sehee
- Narrated by: Jully Lee
- Length: 3 hrs and 56 mins
- Unabridged
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Baek Sehee is a successful young social media director at a publishing house when she begins seeing a psychiatrist about her—what to call it?—depression? She feels persistently low, anxious, endlessly self-doubting, but also highly judgemental of others. She hides her feelings well at work and with friends, performing the calmness her lifestyle demands. The effort is exhausting, overwhelming and keeps her from forming deep relationships. This can't be normal. But if she's so hopeless, why can she always summon a yen for her favourite street food: the spicy rice cake, tteokbokki?
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Woe is me
- By Adrianna Flores on 07-10-23
By: Baek Sehee
The +/- of the Scandinavians
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Interesting but Meandering
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Where does The Almost Nearly Perfect People rank among all the audiobooks you’ve listened to so far?
This is one of the better audio books I've completed. Ralph Lister's performance is excellent and captures the pithy evaluations of Booth's book.Who was your favorite character and why?
Lister is best when he's giving voice to Booth's own skepticism in the form of the back and forth in the interviews with various Nordic anthropologists and scholars.Which character – as performed by Ralph Lister – was your favorite?
I'm just going to say "see above" in this one. Ugh. Great job Audible.If you were to make a film of this book, what would the tag line be?
Question everything: Neither Iceland nor Finland can really be considered Scandinavian, but they are considered Nordic.A witty British take on the Nordic set
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surprisingly entertaining
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okay
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good book
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Great overview
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It’s Long but Worth it
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Further, I do not find the author prejudiced, simply at times irreverent. For instance, he is oddly insistent against all constitutional monarchies. As a Yank I rather enjoy the authors own "House of Windsor" royal family and do not begrudge the various Scandinavian crowned heads.
In summary: A book well done and well read.
Delightful Treck Through The North!
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Fun listen. Well written and well read.
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