Title: Confessions of an Accidental Scholar
Author: Tom Corbett
Publisher: Hancock Press
ISBN: 978-1948000291
Pages: 684
Genre: Educational
Reviewed by: Anthony Avina
Hollywood Book Reviews
Englishman and labor activist Guy Ryder once said, “It’s not going to be technology. It’s not going to be globalization. It’s going to be policy decisions and policy settings that will form the future of work.” In author Tom Corbett’s book Confessions of an Accidental Scholar, the concept of policy and policy making comes into play in a very real way, forgoing the traditional academic approach to the topic and instead relating it to everyday life and creative passages of storytelling.
In this vast volume, the author takes both a personal and professional approach to the topic of policy, showcasing a huge deep dive into the intellectual community which students studying policy can enjoy, while relaying the topics and way in which he approached them in a very down-to-earth way. As the author himself put it, this book is not an academic guide but rather a memoir in which he describes how he approached the subject of policy making overall.
You can see the amount of creativity that went into shaping this book. While coming across as a memoir and educational guide, the book also includes examples using narrative pieces, like the first interlude involving a story of the hippopotamus and the butterfly, as recounted here, “Ever hear the one about the hippopotamus and the butterfly who fell in love? As the hippo begins thinking about proposing and consummating the marriage, he quickly realizes he has a problem. So, he seeks out the wise old owl for advice.” This begins a story that showcases policy making’s first flaw, in that policy making only offers good suggestions, but doesn’t guarantee or show how to make it into a good solution overall.
This is a book meant for both scholars & academics, as well as anyone interested in how the issues facing our world; and namely a lot of issues facing the United States could be solved if reason and creativity were infused into current policy making. As someone who has always believed that any generation who has the power and control of a nation’s government (in this instance the United States) tends to offer solutions without taking responsibility for when those solutions fail, instead passing the blame onto future generations, this book spoke to me as it highlighted some of the biggest issues facing our society today. One issue that spoke to me as someone who deals with constant physical disabilities and ailments was the difference between our health care system and that of say, France. While the cost of procedures, medicine and even emergency calls can range in price depending on the area and market a person is in, (usually costing nearly a person’s entire life savings in the process), the prices remained fixed in France thanks to government intervention implementing equal pricing across all markets.
In the end, this is a read that truly makes you think critically about the world around you and how common sense and critical thinking can help improve the ways in which policy is currently formed. A mix of high end academics and common sense, everyday solutions that everyone could see, this is the perfect book for any policy student or interested reader who takes an interest in the ways in which policy affects their everyday lives. Written honestly, artfully and creatively that speaks to a vast number of different readers, this is a book that cannot be missed. Be sure to grab your copy of Confessions of an Accidental Scholar by Tom Corbett today.