Things Are Never So Bad That They Can't Get Worse
Inside the Collapse of Venezuela
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Narrated by:
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Michael Manuel
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By:
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William Neuman
About this listen
—Named Foreign Affairs Best Books of 2022 and the National Endowment for Democracy Notable Books of 2022
—Winner of the 2022 Cornelius Ryan Award of the Overseas Press Club of America for the best nonfiction book on international affairs
—Foreign Affairs Best Books of 2022
—National Endowment for Democracy Notable Books of 2022
"Richly reported...a thorough and important history." -Tim Padgett, The New York Times
A nuanced and deeply-reported account of the collapse of Venezuela, and what it could mean for the rest of the world.
Today, Venezuela is a country of perpetual crisis—a country of rolling blackouts, nearly worthless currency, uncertain supply of water and food, and extreme poverty. In the same land where oil—the largest reserve in the world—sits so close to the surface that it bubbles from the ground, where gold and other mineral resources are abundant, and where the government spends billions of dollars on public works projects that go abandoned, the supermarket shelves are bare and the hospitals have no medicine. Twenty percent of the population has fled, creating the largest refugee exodus in the world, rivaling only war-torn Syria’s crisis. Venezuela’s collapse affects all of Latin America, as well as the United States and the international community.
Republicans like to point to Venezuela as the perfect example of the emptiness of socialism, but it is a better model for something else: the destructive potential of charismatic populist leadership. The ascent of Hugo Chávez was a precursor to the emergence of strongmen that can now be seen all over the world, and the success of the corrupt economy he presided over only lasted while oil sold for more than $100 a barrel. Chávez’s regime and policies, which have been reinforced under Nicolás Maduro, squandered abundant resources and ultimately bankrupted the country.
Things Are Never So Bad That They Can’t Get Worse is a fluid combination of journalism, memoir, and history that chronicles Venezuela’s tragic journey from petro-riches to poverty. Author William Neuman witnessed it all firsthand while living in Caracas and serving as the New York Times Andes Region Bureau Chief. His book paints a clear-eyed, riveting, and highly personal portrait of the crisis unfolding in real time, with all of its tropical surrealism, extremes of wealth and suffering, and gripping drama. It is also a heartfelt reflection of the country’s great beauty and vibrancy—and the energy, passion, and humor of its people, even under the most challenging circumstances.
A Macmillan Audio production from St. Martin's Press.
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The Washington Post's former Baghdad bureau chief, Rajiv Chandrasekaran, takes us into the Green Zone, headquarters for the American occupation in Iraq. In this bubble separated from wartime realities, the task of reconstructing Iraq is in the hands of 20-somethings chosen for their Republican Party loyalty. They pursue irrelevant neoconservative solutions and pie-in-the-sky policies instead of rebuilding looted buildings and restoring electricity, angering the locals and fueling the insurgency.
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A stunning work and performance
- By Rick Grant on 04-25-07
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India
- A Portrait
- By: Patrick French
- Narrated by: Walter Dixon
- Length: 17 hrs and 12 mins
- Unabridged
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Second only to China in the magnitude of its economic miracle and second to none in its potential to shape the new century, India is fast undergoing one of the most momentous transformations the world has ever seen. In this dazzlingly panoramic book, Patrick French chronicles that epic change, telling human stories to explain a larger national narrative. Melding on-the-ground reports with a deep knowledge of history, French exposes the cultural foundations of India’s political, economic and social complexities.
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An Epic Book by Award-Winning Author
- By morton on 10-31-11
By: Patrick French
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China's Second Continent
- How a Million Migrants Are Building a New Empire in Africa
- By: Howard W. French
- Narrated by: Don Hagen
- Length: 10 hrs and 31 mins
- Unabridged
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An exciting, hugely revealing account of China’s burgeoning presence in Africa - a developing empire already shaping, and reshaping, the future of millions of people. A prizewinning foreign correspondent and former New York Times bureau chief in Shanghai and in West and Central Africa, Howard French is uniquely positioned to tell the story of China in Africa. Through meticulous on-the-ground reporting, French crafts a layered investigation of astonishing depth and breadth.
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He knows Both Africa and China
- By Malick Tchakpedeou on 12-01-16
By: Howard W. French
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The Man Without a Face
- The Unlikely Rise of Vladimir Putin
- By: Masha Gessen
- Narrated by: Masha Gessen
- Length: 10 hrs and 24 mins
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The Man Without a Face is the chilling account of how a low-level, small-minded KGB operative ascended to the Russian presidency and, in an astonishingly short time, destroyed years of progress and made his country once more a threat to its own people and to the world.
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A Preview of Authoritarianism in the USA
- By Jimmy O on 06-08-19
By: Masha Gessen
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Age of Ambition
- Chasing Fortune, Truth, and Faith in the New China
- By: Evan Osnos
- Narrated by: Evan Osnos, George Backman
- Length: 16 hrs and 41 mins
- Unabridged
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As the Beijing correspondent for The New Yorker, Evan Osnos was on the ground in China for years, witness to profound political, economic, and cultural upheaval. In Age of Ambition, he describes the greatest collision taking place in that country: the clash between the rise of the individual and the Communist Party’s struggle to retain control.
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Come back when you have a warrant!
- By Neuron on 11-06-15
By: Evan Osnos
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A Kingdom of Their Own
- The Family Karzai and the Afghan Disaster
- By: Joshua Partlow
- Narrated by: P. J. Ochlan
- Length: 18 hrs and 53 mins
- Unabridged
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The key to understanding the calamitous Afghan war is the complex, ultimately failed relationship between the powerful, duplicitous Karzai family and the United States, brilliantly portrayed here by the former Kabul bureau chief for The Washington Post.
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Fabulous
- By Charles S. on 10-23-23
By: Joshua Partlow
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Strange Stones
- By: Peter Hessler
- Narrated by: George Backman
- Length: 13 hrs and 38 mins
- Unabridged
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Full of unforgettable figures and an unrelenting spirit of adventure, Strange Stones is a far-ranging, thought-provoking collection of Peter Hessler’s best reportage - a dazzling display of the powerful storytelling, shrewd cultural insight, and warm sense of humor that are the trademarks of his work. Over the last decade, as a staff writer for The New Yorker and the author of three books, Peter Hessler has lived in Asia and the United States, writing as both native and knowledgeable outsider in these two very different regions.
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funny, entertaining
- By Katherine on 08-02-13
By: Peter Hessler
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Dancing in the Glory of Monsters
- The Collapse of the Congo and the Great War of Africa
- By: Jason Stearns
- Narrated by: Mike Chamberlain
- Length: 15 hrs and 27 mins
- Unabridged
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At the heart of Africa is Congo, a country the size of Western Europe, bordering nine other nations, that since 1996 has been wracked by a brutal and unstaunchable war in which millions have died. And yet, despite its epic proportions, it has received little sustained media attention. In this deeply reported book, Jason K. Stearns vividly tells the story of this misunderstood conflict through the experiences of those who engineered and perpetrated it.
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First book I've found that explains DRC
- By Amazon Customer on 09-09-17
By: Jason Stearns
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Sleeping with the Devil
- How Washington Sold Our Soul for Saudi Crude
- By: Robert Baer
- Narrated by: Robert O'Keefe
- Length: 5 hrs and 59 mins
- Abridged
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Former CIA operative Robert Baer examines the dangers behind America's collaboration with Saudi Arabia. Nominally based on a "harmony of interests" - the Saudis sold their oil to the American government very inexpensively - what we offered in exchange has damaged our position in the Middle East and left our country vulnerable to economic and terrorist threats. Baer goes behind the scenes to show how the US willingly overlooked the corruption of the Saudi royal family, its financing of violent Islamic fundamentalist groups, and its bribery of American officials.
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Ouch. The truth hurts.
- By Kevin Christy on 07-28-03
By: Robert Baer
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The Oligarchs
- Wealth and Power in the New Russia
- By: David Hoffman
- Narrated by: Steve Coulter
- Length: 22 hrs and 50 mins
- Unabridged
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A brilliant investigative narrative: How six average Soviet men rose to the pinnacle of Russia's battered economy. David Hoffman, former Moscow bureau chief for
The Washington Post, sheds light onto the hidden lives of Russia's most feared power brokers: the oligarchs. Focusing on six of these ruthless men Hoffman reveals how a few players managed to take over Russia's cash-strapped economy and then divvy it up in loans-for-shares deals.
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Supreme Chronicle of Murky Times
- By ivan on 03-01-14
By: David Hoffman
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Boom, Bust, Exodus
- The Rust Belt, the Maquilas, and a Tale of Two Cities
- By: Chad Broughton
- Narrated by: Stephen McLaughlin
- Length: 15 hrs and 34 mins
- Unabridged
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In 2002, the town of Galesburg, a slowly declining Rustbelt city of 33,000 in western Illinois, learned that it would soon lose its largest factory, a Maytag refrigerator plant that had anchored Galesburg's social and economic life for decades. Workers at the plant earned $15.14 an hour, had good insurance, and were assured a solid retirement. In 2004, the plant was relocated to Reynosa, Mexico, where workers sometimes spent 13-hour days assembling refrigerators for $1.10 an hour.
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A Story I thought I Knew
- By Meek84 on 07-08-18
By: Chad Broughton
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A Continent for the Taking
- The Tragedy and Hope of Africa
- By: Howard W. French
- Narrated by: Mirron E. Willis
- Length: 10 hrs and 58 mins
- Unabridged
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In A Continent for the Taking, Howard W. French, a veteran correspondent for The New York Times, gives a compelling firsthand account of some of Africa's most devastating recent history. While he captures the tragedies that have repeatedly befallen Africa's peoples, French also opens our eyes to the immense possibility that lies in Africa's complexity, diversity, and myriad cultural strengths.
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A story to pay your attention to
- By George on 04-30-13
By: Howard W. French
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The Assassins' Gate
- America in Iraq
- By: George Packer
- Narrated by: Richard Poe
- Length: 19 hrs and 43 mins
- Unabridged
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The Assassins' Gate, so dubbed by American soldiers, is the entrance to the American zone in the city of Baghdad. In 2003, the United States blazed into Iraq to depose dictator Saddam Hussein. But after three years and unknown thousands killed, that country faces an escalating civil war and an uncertain fate. How did it get to this point?
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Highly Recommended
- By Drapeau on 02-01-07
By: George Packer
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Into the Hands of the Soldiers
- Freedom and Chaos in Egypt and the Middle East
- By: David D. Kirkpatrick
- Narrated by: David D. Kirkpatrick
- Length: 13 hrs and 31 mins
- Unabridged
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Egypt has long set the paradigm for Arab autocracy. It is the keeper of the peace with Israel and the cornerstone of the American-backed regional order. So when Egyptians rose up to demand democracy in 2011, their 30 months of freedom convulsed the whole region. Now a new strongman, Abdel Fattah el-Sisi, is building a dictatorship so severe some call it totalitarian. The economy sputters, an insurgency simmers, Christians suffer, and the Israeli military has been forced to intervene. But some in Washington - including President Trump - applaud Sisi as a crucial ally.
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may get better, but presentation is off putting
- By Fruggs on 08-28-18
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What listeners say about Things Are Never So Bad That They Can't Get Worse
Average customer ratingsReviews - Please select the tabs below to change the source of reviews.
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- A. Hallberg
- 11-11-22
Excellent Review of Venezuela’s Sad Recent History
Great narrator and captivating description of recent Venezuelan history along with historical context. Unfortunately, the author convincingly paints a bleak prognosis. This does not bode well for Venezuela and will have major repercussions in South America and the US.
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- ThizGuy
- 07-17-22
Profound storytelling, anti-conservative bias
The descriptions of how dramatically life has changed for ordinary Venezuelans is a poignant warning about creeping totalitarianism. It’s a surprisingly honest on-the-scene account from a New York Times journalist in that respect. The chapters on the blackouts and the neglect of the grid that led to them are phenomenal. But Neuman's bias becomes evident, and eventually strains comprehension. It starts with criticism of Trump's stumbling efforts to exert pressure after decades of shoulder-shrugging. That is somehow spun into an unlikely narrative about how the horrific collapse of the economy and society actually culminates in the Republican ideal of having no government or public services. Then comes the feeble and predictable "it's not REALLY socialism" trope. Yeah, it never is.
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2 people found this helpful
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- Edwin J Cardona
- 04-28-22
A very informative insight on Venezuela
The book is a very sad reality 😢 of Venezuela
there's is a couple of biased opinions and comments but they are in mi opinión only 3 to 5 percent of the book outside of that super great information of the situation of this Latin American country as a hispanic man myself my heart goes out to all Venezuelans that are living through that horrible situation
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1 person found this helpful
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- John K
- 04-17-22
Excellent. A must read
Great book. Well researched. Narrator was good. Good warning of what happens when you elect a moron as leader. MAGA people should take heed.
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3 people found this helpful
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- Lucas Maldonado
- 01-02-24
Not just because Venezuela, but to understand humankind
This book is amazing, and of enormous interest not only to understand Venezuela, but also to understand how countries can fail, how humans can react in the face of disaster (both in fighting against it or nourishing it). It is a master piece, and helped me understand my own country, myself and wonder of how can we all learn from a complete collapse.
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- Amazon Customer
- 01-31-24
Great book. Not so great narration
Does a great job explaining why Venezuela collapsed. I have family in Venezuela and I knew some of the story but still learned a lot.
Unfortunately the narrator is not bilingual— he reads the English portions fine, and would do fine with another book (but not this one). This book had many Spanish names for people, cities, companies, etc — he struggled with those words throughout and did a terrible job pronouncing them. As a Spanish speaker it was painful to hear and really detracted from the audio book. It’s a shame that the publisher dropped the ball on this and didn’t use someone that had decent pronunciation (there are many bilingual narrators available who speak both languages perfectly and could have done a better job).
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- Adrian Lankenau
- 04-11-22
Worth the listen, interesting insights.
I learned a lot during the listen of this book. I'm glad accounts like this exist.
You can tell which way the authors political bias leans. Some of his political assertions seemed rather uncalled for, however I came to respect his views.
In the performance, the narrator's poor Spanish accent made some parts a bit distracting. A better bilingual narrator would further strengthen the important message and story of this book.
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- Christine McKay
- 03-15-22
Great book! Very interesting and informative!
Great book! Very interesting and informative. I love the timeline and appreciate all of the explanations.
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- Anonymous User
- 03-25-22
Incredible
From beginning to end, this book is totally captivating. Incredibly researched, this historical education of Venezuela is rich with story telling through human experiences. Tragic and difficult to read at times but extremely important. Don’t look away.
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- Amazon Customer
- 04-05-22
Populism disguised as Socialism
Compared to my personal experiences in Venezuela in the 90's, this was a very accurate and intimate description of the mood among the people. Neuman gets all of the little details correct. "It's Bever so Bad" is a masterclass on Geopolitics, macro economics, greed and the dangers of mixing Populist and Socialist ideologies. A dire warning and reminder of the fragility of society for the U.S. and elsewhere. 5/5 stars
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