James Meek Book order (chronological)

The new novel about home, belonging, love, courage and identity, set in the fourteenth century, from the Booker-longlisted author of The People's Act of Love

★ 榮獲2015年歐威爾獎 ★ ★ 獲選《衛報》年度最佳政治書籍 ★ 「要了解英國過去三十多年來的發展，必讀《財團治國的年代》，它真實地揭露了私有化這個大工程在社會每一角落造成的衝擊，包括極右政治力量的滋長。」 ──《憤怒的白人》作者 白曉紅 一本書讀懂民營化的危害，以及在自由市場下，我們如何走向貧富不均 ■ 公營事業民營化，對我們有何影響？ 自由主義興盛的一九八○年代，全球吹起一股開放市場的風潮，認為多數的公用事業養育太多冗員、欠缺競爭力、只懂得使用過時的方式；唯有公營事業民營化，透過開放市場引來競爭，讓企業主追逐收益、規避破產風險，並且提供民眾更多選擇，才能真正為公眾帶來利益。 然而三十年後的今日，私有化的神話逐漸破滅，民眾日常所需的水、電、醫療、住宅、鐵路、郵務在民營化後，由大型企業接管，財報更加不透明、政府無法可管、企業高階主管薪資是一般人的百倍；而當新買主、投資者、中間人收割龐大利潤，民眾迫於生活所需，必須支付水漲船高的帳單，同時獲得的服務品質卻日益低落。 ■ 自由市場裡，我們成了又窮又不自由的人民 當公營事業不再透過政府賦稅維持營運，改由民眾以帳單支付，帳單便成了變形的賦稅。我們的稅制因而從富人承擔較多金額，改為了均一稅，無論貧富，只要付出一樣的金額，便能享受服務；但這等同讓窮人負擔更深，富人負擔更輕。隨著公營事業民營化的比例增高，窮人的負擔加重，貧富差距也隨之擴大。 在現今貧富差距已破百倍的台灣，政府正朝著開放市場發展，對於私有化帶來的低選擇權、高負擔，我們更應有所警惕。 ■ 一本批評經濟亂象的最佳著作 英國資深記者詹姆斯•米克在二○○五年離開《衛報》後，有感於社會逐漸走向貧富兩極，為了釐清亂象，他投入私有化領域的研究。本書揉合他的個人觀察、旅行報導、訪談、歷史敘事與嚴謹的論述，探索過去二、三十年私有化浪潮背後的故事。書評盛讚沒有半句多餘或無聊的文字，熱切急迫，情感動人，是最強力批判經濟亂象的著作之一。本書在英國上市後，佳評如潮，更入選《衛報》當年必讀書籍。 本書特色 ◆ 顯現新自由主義興起至今的後遺症，深具討論價值 ◆ 市面上少數專論公用事業民營化如何造成貧富不均 ◆ 結合報導文學、歷史敘事與資料分析，以故事呈現民營化的過程與亂象，易於理解 ◆ 在公營與民營的弊病之間，試圖提出第三方的解決之道

O manželství, lásce, dětech, smrti, věrnosti, zradě, hledání věčného mládí, pokrytectví a především o tom, co to znamená být dobrým člověkem. Sourozenci, kteří si v ničem nejsou podobní: Ritchie – bohatý a ze svého pohledu šťastně ženatý a milující muž ve skutečnosti sice v roli manžela, otce i bratra morálně selhává, přesto se mu daří své chování podle potřeby racionalizovat a ani ho nenapadne, že by snad nebyl v podstatě dobrým člověkem. Přitom je zřejmé, že je to slaboch, který nikdy neodolá čokoládovému pudinku a dvojité whisky, natož nymfičkám pod zákonem. Jeho cesta od bouřlivácké rockové hvězdy k televiznímu producentovi načančané reality show je lemovaná podvody a mimomanželskými vztahy. Bec – mladší sestra, se snaží i za cenu vlastního sebezničení objevit vakcínu proti malárii, žije si po svém, na společenské konvence a pokryteckou morálku kašle, přesto se snaží žít eticky. A katalyzátor příběhu – Val, bývalý přítel Bec, psychopat, fanatik, majitel „Žumpy“ – bulváru, který vytahuje špínu na známé osobnosti, které se nevykoupí tím, že mu poskytnou špinavé pikantnosti o někom jiném. V jeho osidlech uvázne záletný Ritchie. Jak daleko bude ochoten zajít, aby si zachránil svou vlastní kůži?

The book delves into the privatization of essential British services and infrastructure over the past thirty years, revealing the human impact of these changes. Through compelling portraits and narratives, it illustrates how public assets have been transferred to private owners, leading to rising costs for consumers while the new owners profit. Meek's urgent and poignant exploration serves as a critical examination of the nation's transformation, appealing to those interested in social and economic issues.

Ritchie Shepherd, aging former pop star and wildly successful producer of a reality teen talent show, is starting to trip over the intricacy of his own lies. Gallingly, his sister, Bec, a scientist developing a crucial vaccine, is as addicted to truth-telling as Ritchie is to falsehood. Ritchie relies on her certitude even as he seethes with resentment. A devastating chain of events is set into motion when Bec tells her fiance, Val, a powerful tabloid editor, that she can't bring herself to marry him after all. Val has set himself up as the moral arbiter of the nation, which will turn out to be impeccable camouflage for an elaborate revenge plot intended to destroy Bec by exposing the people who are close to her - which now include Alex, a brilliant researcher in gene therapies who is so desperate to have a family of his own that Bec finds herself willing to lie and cheat in order to get him what he wants.

From the prize-winning author of The People's Act of Love and We Are Now Beginning Our Descent

The message was short. 'I want to see you now. I want you to come to me, it doesn't matter how late it is, and tell me exactly what you want from me.'Like the world around him, at the dawn of the twenty-first century, Adam Kellas's life is showing distinct signs of cracking apart. Against his better judgement, Kellas - divorced, unstable, spurned by his lover and by the world of letters - accepts a war assignment from his newspaper. It is the beginning of a journey which takes him from the mountains of Afghanistan to the elegant dinner tables of north London, the marshlands of the American South and, ultimately, to the darkest realms of the human imagination. Only the memory of the beautiful, elusive Astrid, a fellow reporter in Afghanistan, offers him the possibility of hope.With all the explosive drama of The People's Act of Love, James Meek's new novel spans continents and cultures. It is a timeless tale of folly and the pursuit of love, set against the incendiary politics of our time.

The Museum of Doubt is a new collection of surreal and unnerving short stories from award-winning writer James Meek. The array of characters who populate Meek's vague and elusive worlds are driven by paranoia and doubts, as well as hopes and fears of things only half-glimpsed.

Set in a time of great social upheaval, warfare, and terrorism, and against a stark, lawless Siberia at the end of the Russian Revolution, The People’s Act of Love portrays the fragile coexistence of a beautiful, independent mother raising her son alone, a megalomaniac Czech captain and his restless regiment, and a mystical separatist Christian sect. When a mysterious, charismatic stranger trudges into their snowy village with a frighteningly outlandish story to tell, its balance is shaken to the core.