The author tells his history first as an health and life insurance industry PR - or 'spin' - professional and executive, and later a whistleblower who is intent upon exposing the dubious 'spin' practices, tactics and strategies of the industry. The book contains numerous fascinating cases of PR professionals - often quite successfully - explaining black into white with politicians and the general public buying the intentionally misleading lines of argumentation. In this manner, according to the author, health care reform has been suppressed in the USA several times by the insurance industry.
Was it good?
Oh yeah, the book is quite good - and even somewhat frighteningly so. Both the case vignettes and the personal story of the author are quite appealing, and the book is written in a highly engaging personal style, bringing the author very close to the reader. Furthermore, the book is excellent in laying bare the most common tactics that 'spin' professionals employ (e.g. diverting attention to a greater danger, associating a negative thing with a universally acclaimed thing [see e.g. cigarettes as 'torches of freedom'] etc.)
The main take-away for me?
The main take-away for me without doubt was the heightened appreciation of the prevalence and intentionality of 'spin' and lobbying going on in Western democracies, including Finland. While the book explicitly covered only selected cases in the USA, by analogue one can see quite intentional professional 'spin' every day, such as in the recent debate about deregulation of taxi service in Finland. Thus, the book really sensitises a person to detect 'spin' in everyday (public) life.
Who should read the book?
I think that basically everyone would both enjoy and benefit from the book. Indeed, this book could even be required reading in a high school curriculum. Highly recommended.
The book on Amazon.com: Deadly spin
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