An informative and comprehensive analysis of an industry’s shortcomings.
A summary of the many systemic and structural problems of health care in the United States.
In this debut nonfiction book, Veldandi explores the many participants in the U.S. health care system, evaluates their roles and their often competing interests, and highlights areas where waste and excessive spending are particularly problematic. The work opens with a history and overview of the insurance industry, then looks at pharmaceutical companies and the drug development process. Other sections address industrywide problems, including technology challenges. Veldandi explains how insurance companies interact with the pharmacies, hospitals, and other medical facilities where patients receive treatment, how each participant is involved in the financial aspects of health care, and the questions presented by their interactions. Each chapter concludes with a concise, effective summary, and the backmatter includes detailed source notes. The problems that Veldandi highlights fall into several broad categories, but readers will notice that some topics arise in one chapter after another, such as siloing, which results in doctors, working separately, running duplicate tests; patient data that can’t be easily shared from one system to another; and the necessity of substantial administrative work to unite disparate parts of a system. Veldandi has a solid grasp of the complexities of the industry and does a good job of explaining them to readers who may be unfamiliar with the subject. The book is clearly deeply researched, and the author not only provides solid data, but also explains what it means and why it matters (“If CVS consumers had simply picked up their prescriptions even 80 percent of the time, the company would have saved $6.5 billion”). The material is somewhat dry, but Veldandi’s obvious enthusiasm for the subject makes up for it. Readers may find themselves wishing that the author had offered some substantive solutions to the problems he details, but the book makes no promises to supply such answers—and doing so would likely fill another 300 pages.
An informative and comprehensive analysis of an industry’s shortcomings.Pub Date: Feb. 15, 2022
ISBN: 978-1-73679-070-0
Page Count: 368
Publisher: Tarkshya Holdings
Review Posted Online: Sept. 21, 2021
Review Program: Kirkus Indie
A powerful reiteration of principles—and some fresh ideas—from the longest-serving independent in congressional history.
Another chapter in a long fight against inequality.
Building on his Fighting Oligarchy tour, which this year drew 280,000 people to rallies in red and blue states, Sanders amplifies his enduring campaign for economic fairness. The Vermont senator offers well-timed advice for combating corruption and issues a robust plea for national soul-searching. His argument rests on alarming data on the widening wealth gap’s impact on democracy. Bolstered by a 2010 Supreme Court decision that removed campaign finance limits, “100 billionaire families spent $2.6 billion” on 2024 elections. Sanders focuses on the Trump administration and congressional Republicans, describing their enactment of the “Big Beautiful Bill,” with its $1 trillion in tax breaks for the richest Americans and big social safety net cuts, as the “largest transfer of wealth” in living memory. But as is his custom, he spreads the blame, dinging Democrats for courting wealthy donors while ignoring the “needs and suffering” of the working class. “Trump filled the political vacuum that the Democrats created,” he writes, a resonant diagnosis. Urging readers not to surrender to despair, Sanders offers numerous legislative proposals. These would empower labor unions, cut the workweek to 32 hours, regulate campaign spending, reduce gerrymandering, and automatically register 18-year-olds to vote. Grassroots supporters can help by running for local office, volunteering with a campaign, and asking educators how to help support public schools. Meanwhile, Sanders asks us “to question the fundamental moral values that underlie” a system that enables “the top 1 percent” to “own more wealth than the bottom 93 percent.” Though his prose sometimes reads like a transcribed speech with built-in applause lines, Sanders’ ideas are specific, clear, and commonsensical. And because it echoes previous statements, his call for collective introspection lands as genuine.
A powerful reiteration of principles—and some fresh ideas—from the longest-serving independent in congressional history.Pub Date: Oct. 21, 2025
ISBN: 9798217089161
Page Count: 160
Publisher: Crown
Review Posted Online: Oct. 21, 2025
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Dec. 15, 2025
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
The lessons to draw are obvious: Smoke more dope, eat less meat. Like-minded readers will dig it.
The chef, rapper, and TV host serves up a blustery memoir with lashings of self-help.
“I’ve always had a sick confidence,” writes Bronson, ne Ariyan Arslani. The confidence, he adds, comes from numerous sources: being a New Yorker, and more specifically a New Yorker from Queens; being “short and fucking husky” and still game for a standoff on the basketball court; having strength, stamina, and seemingly no fear. All these things serve him well in the rough-and-tumble youth he describes, all stickball and steroids. Yet another confidence-builder: In the big city, you’ve got to sink or swim. “No one is just accepted—you have to fucking show that you’re able to roll,” he writes. In a narrative steeped in language that would make Lenny Bruce blush, Bronson recounts his sentimental education, schooled by immigrant Italian and Albanian family members and the mean streets, building habits good and bad. The virtue of those habits will depend on your take on modern mores. Bronson writes, for example, of “getting my dick pierced” down in the West Village, then grabbing a pizza and smoking weed. “I always smoke weed freely, always have and always will,” he writes. “I’ll just light a blunt anywhere.” Though he’s gone through the classic experiences of the latter-day stoner, flunking out and getting arrested numerous times, Bronson is a hard charger who’s not afraid to face nearly any challenge—especially, given his physique and genes, the necessity of losing weight: “If you’re husky, you’re always dieting in your mind,” he writes. Though vulgar and boastful, Bronson serves up a model that has plenty of good points, including his growing interest in nature, creativity, and the desire to “leave a legacy for everybody.”
The lessons to draw are obvious: Smoke more dope, eat less meat. Like-minded readers will dig it.Pub Date: April 20, 2021
ISBN: 978-1-4197-4478-5
Page Count: 184
Publisher: Abrams
Review Posted Online: May 5, 2021
Kirkus Reviews Issue: June 1, 2021
© Copyright 2025 Kirkus Media LLC. All Rights Reserved.
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