Something for Nothing: A Novel [Hardcover]

Michael W. Klein (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: September 2, 2011

David Fox (Ph.D. Economics, Columbia, Visiting Assistant Professor at Kester College, Knittersville, New York) is having a stressful year. He has a temporary position at a small college in a small town miles from everything except Albany. His students have never read Freakonomics. He thinks he is getting the hang of teaching, but a smart and beautiful young woman in his Economics of Social Issues class is distractingly flirtatious. His research is stagnant, to put it kindly. His search for a tenure-track job looms dauntingly. (The previous visiting assistant professor of economics is now working in a bookstore.) So when a right-wing think tank called the Center to Research Opportunities for a Spiritual Society (CROSS)--affiliated with the Salvation Academy for Value Economics (SAVE)--wants to publish (and publicize) a paper he wrote as a graduate student showing the benefits of high school abstinence programs, fetchingly retitled "Something for Nothing," he ignores his misgivings and accepts happily. After all, publication is "the coin of the realm," as a senior colleague puts it.

But David faces a personal dilemma when his prized results are cast into doubt. The school year is filled with other challenges as well, including faculty politics, a romance with a Knittersville native, running the annual interview gauntlet, and delivering the culminating "job talk" lecture under trying circumstances. David's adventures offer an instructive fictional guide for the young economist and an entertaining and comic tale for everyone interested in questions of balancing career and life, success and integrity, and loyalty and desire.

Editorial Reviews

Review

"Michael W. Klein's novel Something for Nothing is a fun romp through the life of a young, aspiring academic as he struggles to find his way in the world. It is often amusing, sometimes edifying, and always entertaining." -- N. Gregory Mankiw, Robert M. Beren Professor of Economics, Harvard University, and author of Principles of Economics

(Greg Mankiw )

"Klein effectively taps into fears that every researcher must have felt at one time or another about the possible fragility of his or her results, and gives us a window to view how a desperate but otherwise normal everyday person may be tempted to behave unethically. He does so with humor and a heavy dose of irony. Klein perfectly captures the bumbling, bungling, and cluelessness of (at least some) new Economics PhDs beginning their careers." -- Nelson C. Mark, Alfred C. DeCrane Jr. Professor of Economics, University of Notre Dame

(Nelson Mark )

"The thrill in this book--as in the economics profession itself--comes from trying to determine what's real and what's satire. Klein expertly combines them by mixing the insights of an academic insider with an appreciation of the human comedy that was almost completely missing from his previous book, Exchange Rate Regimes in the Modern Era." -- Yoram Bauman, economist and stand-up comedian

(Yoram Bauman )

"...[An] amusing take on the academic life..." -- Taylor McNeil, Tufts Now

"This book is not merely entertaining. It manages to slip in some extremely clear explanations of supply and demand, game theory, marginal costs, and the like, which might well seem fuzzy when presented in more conventional form." -- Paul B. Brown, The New York Times

"He writes smoothly and precisely, with an undercurrent of quiet humor." -- Kacie Glenn, The Chronicle of Higher Education

About the Author

Michael W. Klein is William L. Clayton Professor of International Economic Affairs at the Fletcher School, Tufts University.

Product Details

• Hardcover: 336 pages
• Publisher: The MIT Press (September 2, 2011)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0262015757
• ISBN-13: 978-0262015752
• Product Dimensions: 5.4 x 0.7 x 8 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.6 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (5 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,004,615 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Michael W. Klein is the William L. Clayton Professor of International Economic Affairs at the Fletcher School, Tufts University. He served as Chief Economist in the Office of International Finance at the US Treasury from June 2010 to December 2011. He is also a Research Associate of the National Bureau of Economic Research. He has published four books and over two dozen articles. His most recent economics book is Exchange Rate Regimes in the Modern Era (2009). His most recent (and, so far, only) published novel is Something for Nothing (2011).

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

4 of 4 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars Fun satire of academic economists October 16, 2011

By J. Duffy

Format:Hardcover|Amazon Verified Purchase

An intelligent, funny satire of the economics profession and in particular of the academic job market for new PhDs. Klein, who is a Professor of Economics at Tufts University, knows his subject matter all too well. As one Professor character in his novel puts it, in the academic world, "the coin of the realm is publications". Klein explores the lengths that a new PhD economist might go to acquire some of this coin. The book will entertain economists and non-economists alike. The style and subject matter reminded me of the work of Christopher Buckley and Tom Perrotta. Academic economists especially will enjoy this biting, insightful but ultimately uplifting view of their profession.

4 of 4 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars "Something for Nothing" is really something! September 22, 2011

By Concordriver

Format:Hardcover|Amazon Verified Purchase

Author Michael Klein's first novel, "Something for Nothing" is a captivating read. The story revolves around the budding career and challenges of a young economics professor. Presumably, the main character's experiences are based upon some of the real life experiences of the author. I found the novel to read like the best of John Grisham's. The story brings the reader into little understood world of academic economics with a plot line that is educational as well as entertaining. From the earliest pages to the exciting finish, the believable characters had me emotionally hooked. The exciting conclusion of the novel left me satisfied and desiring of a sequel. I think that this novel will appeal to a wide variety of readers as it includes intrigue, suspense, good vs. evil, and romance. I hope others enjoy the book as much as I did.

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars Great book and very entertaining October 4, 2011

By J M Keynes

Format:Hardcover|Amazon Verified Purchase

This is a fantastically entertaining book and amusing and I've been reading this addictively for the last few days and about to finish this now. And entertaining choice of characters and outcomes, with some amusing plot turns. The scene around CROSS makes me think of Evelyn Waugh books like Decline and Fall, and from my perspective of the economics profession also all seems horribly realistic. Well done on a great book.

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful

4.0 out of 5 stars Michael Klein's "Something for Nothing" July 4, 2012

By Leo V. Seligsohn

Format:Hardcover

Satirizing sexual and intellectual hypocricy on and off the campus of a small college, Michael Klein's comic novel, "Something for Nothing", is a blast -- as enjoyable as it is insightful. The book focuses on the tribulations of a young academic whose stifled effort to get a job as an economics professor is suddenly boosted when he is tricked into letting a right wing con man twist his doctoral thesis into apocryphal scientific evidence supporting "just say no" over contraception as a way of preventing unwanted births. Klein, a recognized economics professor, clearly draws on his own experience as he has fun with the slings and arrows of a life in the groves of academe. At the same time his book paints on a larger canvas, skillfully depicting the follies of neo-conservatism in the U.S. today. "Something for Nothing" would make a great movie. I can't wait to see it.

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful

4.0 out of 5 stars An economic page turner December 9, 2011

By fallen horse

Format:Kindle Edition|Amazon Verified Purchase

Something for Nothing helpfully squashed any regrets I might have had about not becoming an economist, but that's not to say I didn't enjoy this book. Michael Klein writes beautifully and with great authority about the struggles - both academic and romantic - of the young up and coming economics professor who is the main character of the book. As the plot unfolds, the sometimes insidious nature of publishing, politics and academia is revealed not to mention the pitfalls of romance. A very enjoyable read!