Third World America: How Our Politicians Are Abandoning the Middle Class and Betraying the American Dream

One cannot help expecting to hear the vaguely pan-European, breathless, faintly melodic tones of Huffington—political commentator and founder of the Huffington Post—reading her own tome on the shrinking American middle class. Instead, Huffington has turned over duties to the solid Colleen Marlo, who is more conventionally all-American in tone and style. While it might have been fun to listen to seven consecutive hours of Huffington, Marlo is less exhausting to the ear and does a nice job of softening the harsh edges of Huffington’s prose. The result is surprisingly soothing—a tough diagnosis meted out with an appropriate dose of sugar. A Crown hardcover. (Sept.)