"Richly reported...a thorough and important history." -- Tim Padgett, The New York Times
The award-winning, richly nuanced account of the collapse of Venezuela and what it could mean for the rest of the world.
Venezuela has been mired in crisis for over a decade--characterized by economic collapse, political polarization, mass emigration, and widespread hardship--even as the country sits atop some of the world's largest oil reserves. In Things Are Never So Bad That They Can't Get Worse, William Neuman provides a vivid, granular chronicle of that descent. Drawing on his experience as The New York Times Andes Region Bureau Chief and years of reporting from Caracas, Neuman explores the interplay of charismatic populism, economic mismanagement, corruption, and the international forces that have shaped Venezuela's fate.
The book traces how once-abundant oil wealth became a source of distortion rather than development, how political power concentrated around Hugo Chávez and later Nicolás Maduro, and how everyday Venezuelans endured rolling blackouts, hyperinflation, shortages of food and medicine, and threats to personal safety. Neuman blends history, journalism, and personal narrative into a clear-eyed account of how a petro-rich nation imploded, displacing millions and disrupting the region.
Winner of Best Books of the Year from Foreign Affairs, the National Endowment for Democracy and the Overseas Press Club of America, the book's historical context provides readers indispensable insight into how decades of policy choices, institutional breakdown, and external pressures set the stage for the crises of today. Rather than offering simple answers, Things Are Never So Bad That They Can't Get Worse equips readers with the historical grounding needed to understand both Venezuela's past and the complexities shaping its future.
About the Author :
WILLIAM NEUMAN is an author and journalist who reported for the New York Times for over 15 years. He served as the Times Andes Region Bureau Chief from 2012 to 2016 while based in Caracas, Venezuela. He previously reported for the New York Post and his work has also been featured by The New York Review of Books, The Atlantic, the Guardian, the Boston Globe, the San Francisco Chronicle, the Fort Worth Star-Telegram, the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, and The Independent, among others. He began his journalism career while living in Mexico, and has published English translations of several Spanish-language novels.
Review :
"22 Books to Look Forward to in 2022"--Newsweek
"This shocking, definitive account of Venezuela's crumbling is driven by deep reporting, startling data and most of all, stunning humanity. Neuman draws on profound interviews he conducted and his deep knowledge of the country and its history to starkly detail how the country got to where it is today." --Newsweek
"How did a country that Christopher Columbus described as paradise on earth, a country with more oil than Saudi Arabia, descend into a Hobbesian nightmare? Let William Neuman tell you. Things Are Never So Bad That They Can't Get Worse is a timely, heartbreaking story of ruinous mismanagement, economic implosion and political cynicism (not least in Donald Trump's Washington)."
--Bill Keller, Pulitzer-prize winning journalist, founding editor in chief of The Marshall Project, and former executive editor of The New York Times
"A deeply reported, lyrically written portrait of a nation in freefall. Neuman chronicles Venezuela's surreal descent from tragi-comic dysfunction to catastrophe with authority, wit and above all compassion. Anyone who wants to understand how a country with the world's biggest oil reserves fell into the void should read this book."
--Rory Carroll, author of Comandante: Hugo Chavez's Venezuela
"William Neuman's beautifully written, incisive, and often heart-rending account must be required reading for anyone who wants to understand our neighbor to the South."
--Mary Jo McConahay, author of The Tango War
"Journalist Neuman presents a jaunty, intimate look at the recent (and ongoing) implosion of Venezuelan society that emphasizes the perils of the petrostate and the human cost of endemic corruption." -- Booklist
"As the Caracas-based Andes bureau chief for the New York Times from 2012 to 2016, Neuman is well qualified to recount the South American nation's precipitous decline. ... The author delivers the best kind of journalism, combining powerful facts and pointed observation, as he moves from one alarming event to the next, bringing into the spotlight countless Venezuelans who have little hope for the future. A heartbreaking yet authoritative, necessary look at a ruined nation." --Kirkus Reviews, starred review
"Journalist Neuman debuts with a heartbreaking and deeply reported account of the ongoing crisis in Venezuela. ... Through lyrical prose, in-depth interviews, and lucid discussions of political and economic matters, Neuman makes the scale of Venezuela's tragedy clear. Readers will be riveted and appalled." --Publishers Weekly, starred review
"Neuman, who lived in Caracas for years, writes lyrically and uses in-depth interviews and reflections to put individual faces to Venezuela's dissolving bonds of fellowship. ... A riveting personal exploration of Venezuela's slow-moving collapse." --Library Journal
