pearseanderson 's review for:

Fulfillment: Winning and Losing in One-Click America by Alec MacGillis, Stefan Alexander MacGillis

3.0

---

I really wanted to like this more than I did! MacGillis does a ton of reporting and getting into unexpected places with unexpected people (brick-collectors! Cardboard people! Pencil suppliers! People mozying by at a Bezos introduction event in Washington!) but I think the structure and scope of the book detracted from my experience. There was a lot of cutting away to different subjects, states, and histories, in a way that did not feel easy to follow or well motivated. If the book was solely about office suppliers and their fight against Amazon, for example, I might have actually been more engaged and learned more than this broader coverage that ties together electrocal demography, tax code (an important section!), revolving door of private/public jobs, etc.. Overall I'd say 7/10, maybe?