I've received an advance copy of Meat, a novel by Alexei Bayer. I've been a friend and colleague of Alex's since 1990, including co-authoring columns and a book chapter for Mental Floss magazine, and editing his columns for Research magazine. Quicksilber readers get an advance view of the Meat blurb I am providing for possible use:
Alexei Bayer grew up in Russia in the Khrushchev years, when one could buy a small "improved" bar of soap for the same price at which one previously got a large bar, otherwise identical. As an economist, he has retained a sharp lookout against ideological distortions of economic reality. As a storyteller, he has stayed attuned to the human dramas and absurdities arising from such distortions. In Meat, he uses these perspectives to bring us a vivid picture of early 1960s life in a real "red state."
