Bought a pre-publication copy at Freedomfest, even had it signed, and then read it all the way home. But that wasn’t what was so extraordinary. No matter who I sat next to, so soon as they had seen the title, they immediately stopped talking to me. From now on, I am going to take the wrapper of the book and put it on whatever I am reading on the plane. If they stop talking; I don’t want to talk to them anyway. If they do continue the conversation, then I am all-in myself.

And that’s not to mention what a fantastic book it is. It’s what you know about socialist countries already, in a vague and distant kind of way. But the book has such gripping and terrifying detail, it is bound to bring a good deal to life that is really only normally just statistical and dry-as-dust. Sure they throw their enemies into jail. Sure they shoot their political prisoners in the back of the head. But how many places can you discover how hard it is, even for tourists, to find a good restaurant, even if it’s cheap.

Here’s the book discussed: Economists use beer as measure to document failures of socialism in new book. Then when you’ve bought and read it, take the dustcover along with you for all subsequent flights. With the right sort of people it’s a great way to start a conversation. For everyone else, it shut’s them up completely. A miracle cure, even for short flights.