Who Is Government?: The Untold Story of Public Service
About the book
Author: Michael Lewis (Editor)
Publisher: Riverhead
More info:
The StoryGraph | Goodreads
Note: Content and trigger warnings are provided for those who need them at the bottom of this page. If you don’t need them and don’t want to risk spoilers, don’t scroll past the review.
Buy and support indie bookstores (+ I earn a small commission):
Bookshop.org (print or ebook) | Libro.fm (audio)
My Review
If you’re looking for a quick, hopeful piece of nonfiction filled with interesting facts, look no further. Who Is Government? fits the bill exactly. In it, Michael Lewis gathers together a group of all-star journalists to each write about an interesting unsung civil servant and the office they work for. These are folks who show up, day after day, for the love of the job and the good they are able to do with the authority granted to them by their governmental role.
The episodic structure of the book and the feel-good subject matter made this the perfect audiobook to dip in and out of. The last chapter — about a family desperately searching for a cure to their daughter’s rare, deadly condition and the woman who spearheaded a database for Hail Mary treatments — even made me tear up.
A good, solid read!
Content and Trigger Warnings
Child abuse (minor)