Autocracy, Inc.

Applebaum's latest book is a brief description of the network of kleptocracies currently impacting the world. The liberal world order of free democratically elected countries is threatened by the block of authoritative autocracies. These autocracies include the likes of Russia, China, Iran, Venezuela, Zimbabwe, Belarus, North Korea, Egypt, Malasia, and Saudi Arabia. Each of them spread misinformation and sometimes even military support to try to undermine democracies around the world. Resisters to the autocrats are threatened, beaten, imprisoned, and sometimes killed. Their names and even their ideas are smeared and labeled as treason. The kleptocrats and their loyal supporters keep all the spoils with the aid of financially motivated enablers around the world. Applebaum ends the depressing book by calling for the democracies around the world to unite against the dictators through supporting the resistors, combating the misinformation, and stopping the enablers within.

Table for Two

Towles latest book is a collection of six short stories in New York and one novella in Los Angeles, all set in the 1930's. The six short NY stories each have cleaver plots and interesting twists. They include a capitalist communist, an unwitting forger, a likable drunk, a roller-skating breakup, an SOB ticket snob, and a battle over pieces of art. The LA detective story has a young heroin, a retired detective, and both real and made-up characters. For those of us who love LA, the story includes real places like the Beverly Hills Hotel, Hearst's Beverly Hill Hacienda, and various eateries. The real characters include the recently departed Olivia de Havilland (2020 at 104). Towles is a great storyteller, and I like the way he describes the strength and resourcefulness of Eve, the innocence and virtue of Liv, the evil of the villains, and the stable dependability of the detective. The other members of our group pointed out that Eve was in our previous Towles book, Rules of Civility, and got her scar from the auto accident in NY.