The very best collection of funny essays since the heyday of Mencken and Thurber. Andersen writes with equal authority on bourbon, cola and lazy dog missile clusters. With the success of his new novel, I hope this collection will see its way back into print.

I am absolutely appalled that this book is out of print. All those readers who have yet to experience the keen-wit and affected arrogance of the fabulous Mr. Andersen... really, it's heart-breaking. The Real Thing is extraordinarily amusing. I think it's safe to say that only certain types of people will enjoy this fabulous collection of satirical essays. His chapters on Affectations and Self-help Quizzes were especially hilarious. Many of the pop-culture references were before my time but, I still found the entire book humourous. I envy the elevation in experience of those readers who actually remember the early 80's. I urge everyone to track down a copy of this book. Mr. Andersen is my hero.

I have read this book, and it does, indeed, provide a compelling view of how HMO's and managed care MIGHT change America and its health for the better; unfortunately, I belong to an HMO, the largest in the nation; and quite contrary to what Ken Jennings says (managed care will strive to ANTICIPATE patients needs, and meet them in advance), my HMO, the largest in America, has repeatedly proven it WANTS to anticipate my medical needs, and is more than willing to find any way possible to DEFLECT covering that need.

It has gone so far as to lose multiple sets of medical reasons under excuses so lame I wouldn't let my child pull them on their middle school teacher. (i.e. the mail ate your records- your doctor never sent your records- our computer had to be purged--- a new excuse every week.

I have repeatedly been shuffled from one manager to the next without resolution; I have been denied access to my neuro specialist for 7 months, to the point my specialist had to stop his practice due to the number of HMO's doing this very thing to him; my treatments were denied retroactively, leaving me exposed to thousands of dollars of care, which, without notice, my MCO insurer decided were not medically necessary. By the way, when I demanded to know the qualifications of 9 of the case managers who were handling my denials, none of them was a physician, none had any training in medicine, in fact, there was not even one NURSE involved in cancelling my treatment, or decision making regarding my care. Non-physicians (read clearks) have no business making medical decisions that affect the lives and health of real people. This book doesn't even begin to go into that arena.

In the meantime, my internist has notified me, after years of a chronic disease, that the insurer has DEMANDED that the physicians allow ONE 30 tablet bottle (a month) of medicine per patient per year be allowed on one of my symptoms. He said the next step will be (even though I am paying 9 grand a year for double insurance) will be that he will have to write ALL prescriptions for me, which my insurer will refuse to pay, and for which I will have to pay for with cash. Out of my pocket.

This is medical blaspheme.

Ken Jennings may have his eyes set on the stars, and may see wonderful things ahead with managed care, but from my experience, this is a dreamy fiction, based, not on reality, but on a PR based promo for managed care, and what it MIGHT, but will never become. This book is sheer fantasy. And if anyone of its readers thinks the day will come when consumers' needs will be anticipated, and then proactively filled by these nebulous managed care companies in the future, as this book predicts, I strongly suggest a long stretch in therapy. It will never happen in America. THIS is a total fiction, and although it makes for a pleasant, futuristic read, its basis in reality does not exist.

This book is absolute non-sense, and may be fine for a dreamer. But its application in real life, will never be realized unless there is major regulation in HMO's and managed care, to move it towards CARE for the individual, not careless-ness. Modern managed care is DESIGNED to limit care, limit access, and deny, delay, and stress the patient to the point they stop trying to fight the system, and give up, thus costing the insurer nothing. This book contains none of this, and therefore needs to be listed in the fiction area, not non-fiction. This is sheer myth.

A recent editorial in the NEJM (6/25/98) noted, "An old management-consulting adage reads: 'Good, fast, cheap: pick any two.' In health care, the contemporary equivalent seems to be: 'Quality, accessibility, affordability: have all three.'" In this book Jennings, et al provide a comprehensive and detailed vision as to how these three seemingly conflicting ambitions can be simultaneously achieved. A number of modalities to achieve this, including integrating patient/consumer empowerment and responsiveness, and the intelligent implementation of information technology are described and elucidated by example. This book better than any single source I've found provides a coherent strategy for the evolution of health care enterprises. This may become the Rosette Stone to the successful metamorphosis of the US health care system.

"Few health care organizations will survive or succeed without undergoing transformation," said Ken Jennings, co-author of Changing Health Care and a partner in Andersen Consulting's Healthcare practice. "They are beginning to realize that what kept them going in the past will not necessarily serve them well in the future." Andersen Consulting authors Jennings, Kurt Miller and Sharyn Materna collectively have more than 50 years of experience helping hundreds of clients in health care and related industries. Changing Health Care forecasts that successful organizations will transcend today's competition on cost and, instead, gain marketshare by customizing health care services to the individual. A "New Breed of Consumer" Savvy new consumers are assuming greater responsibility for their own care, arming themselves with previously restricted information and redefining the very nature of health care services, said Kurt Miller, co-author of Changing Health Care and a partner in Andersen

There's nothing I like better than a nice thick book, unless it is this particular one, which could lose 150-200 pages; then the story might be tight enough. As it was, I heard BONFIRE OF THE VANITIES comparisons mentioned frequently in reviews, and those references are what ultimately captured my interest. The only real comparison of the two books is that both were rife with dislikeable char'ters; however,while BONFIRE cooked from beginning to end, CENTURY often made me question why I was continuing to read this snoozer. The two stars are for the two things I learned most about... namely, the insane and fickle stock market game, and the finesse of hacking into major computer systems to create havoc in the market, or just because... But the characters were stifling in their one dimensional personalities. Like human paperdolls, George Mactier was just a lucky goof w/ too much money, and his wife, Lizzie, was just as flat. Too many greedy people w/ too much disposible income and time, adding nothing to the quality of modern life, but showing a generational lack of values that is truly frightening. I would say, and this is a compliment, that if only I were younger, I would love to be a hacker. Younger readers in the computer marketing quest, or tv development, might enjoy this book, but so far Kurt Anderson is no threat to Tom Wolfe.

The author made more amusing and accurate observations in any two pages chosen at random than other books or magazines do in their entirety. He does not just name-drop, as some of the reviewers have claimed; rather, he sharply and often very funnily comments on TV, education, Wall Street, computers and their use, the kind of people who are involved in each of the above cited areas, families, love, relationships, the United States and the world. He casts a deadly accurate eye on various topics, most of which bring a smile or a nod by the reader. For example, there is a Howard Stern interview on the radio that is scripted exactly as I believe it would sound. It is true that the book is a bit long(and for that reason, I give it 4 instead of 5 stars), but the point is more than the plot. The incisive observations are worth the journey (to the Millenium), and there is a real story as he races to the finish line. I definitely think it is worth the time to read as there is no book like it.

I picked up Andersen's long novel with hesitation but found it all but impossible to put down. His plotting is intricate but impeccable in terms of plausibility and every thread was quite satisfyingly resolved. His characters, down to the marginal bit players, are nailed in three dimensions. Finally, as a contemporary morality tale it will stand the test of time.

ALL BAD IMAGES=NO CONTENT
This book is the symbol of capitalist mediocrity. There is no sense of higher reasoning. All that is left is bad design from referencing unwarrented pop culture. This is like a bad B movie without the cult status. The Rockwell Group should stick to set design and not try to do architecture.