Things Are Never So Bad That They Can't Get Worse

Inside the Collapse of Venezuela

By: William Neuman

Narrated by: Michael Manuel

—Named Foreign Affairs Best Books of 2022 and the National Endowment for Democracy Notable Books of 2022

—Winner of the 2022 Cornelius Ryan Award of the Overseas Press Club of America for the best nonfiction book on international affairs

—Foreign Affairs Best Books of 2022

—National Endowment for Democracy Notable Books of 2022

"Richly reported...a thorough and important history." -Tim Padgett, The New York Times

A nuanced and deeply-reported account of the collapse of Venezuela, and what it could mean for the rest of the world.

Today, Venezuela is a country of perpetual crisis—a country of rolling blackouts, nearly worthless currency, uncertain supply of water and food, and extreme poverty. In the same land where oil—the largest reserve in the world—sits so close to the surface that it bubbles from the ground, where gold and other mineral resources are abundant, and where the government spends billions of dollars on public works projects that go abandoned, the supermarket shelves are bare and the hospitals have no medicine. Twenty percent of the population has fled, creating the largest refugee exodus in the world, rivaling only war-torn Syria’s crisis. Venezuela’s collapse affects all of Latin America, as well as the United States and the international community.

Republicans like to point to Venezuela as the perfect example of the emptiness of socialism, but it is a better model for something else: the destructive potential of charismatic populist leadership. The ascent of Hugo Chávez was a precursor to the emergence of strongmen that can now be seen all over the world, and the success of the corrupt economy he presided over only lasted while oil sold for more than $100 a barrel. Chávez’s regime and policies, which have been reinforced under Nicolás Maduro, squandered abundant resources and ultimately bankrupted the country.

Things Are Never So Bad That They Can’t Get Worse is a fluid combination of journalism, memoir, and history that chronicles Venezuela’s tragic journey from petro-riches to poverty. Author William Neuman witnessed it all firsthand while living in Caracas and serving as the New York Times Andes Region Bureau Chief. His book paints a clear-eyed, riveting, and highly personal portrait of the crisis unfolding in real time, with all of its tropical surrealism, extremes of wealth and suffering, and gripping drama. It is also a heartfelt reflection of the country’s great beauty and vibrancy—and the energy, passion, and humor of its people, even under the most challenging circumstances.

A Macmillan Audio production from St. Martin's Press.

©2022 William Neuman (P)2022 Macmillan Audio

Excellent Review of Venezuela’s Sad Recent History

Great narrator and captivating description of recent Venezuelan history along with historical context. Unfortunately, the author convincingly paints a bleak prognosis. This does not bode well for Venezuela and will have major repercussions in South America and the US.

Profound storytelling, anti-conservative bias

The descriptions of how dramatically life has changed for ordinary Venezuelans is a poignant warning about creeping totalitarianism. It’s a surprisingly honest on-the-scene account from a New York Times journalist in that respect. The chapters on the blackouts and the neglect of the grid that led to them are phenomenal. But Neuman's bias becomes evident, and eventually strains comprehension. It starts with criticism of Trump's stumbling efforts to exert pressure after decades of shoulder-shrugging. That is somehow spun into an unlikely narrative about how the horrific collapse of the economy and society actually culminates in the Republican ideal of having no government or public services. Then comes the feeble and predictable "it's not REALLY socialism" trope. Yeah, it never is.

A very informative insight on Venezuela

The book is a very sad reality 😢 of Venezuela
there's is a couple of biased opinions and comments but they are in mi opinión only 3 to 5 percent of the book outside of that super great information of the situation of this Latin American country as a hispanic man myself my heart goes out to all Venezuelans that are living through that horrible situation

Excellent. A must read

Great book. Well researched. Narrator was good. Good warning of what happens when you elect a moron as leader. MAGA people should take heed.

Not just because Venezuela, but to understand humankind

This book is amazing, and of enormous interest not only to understand Venezuela, but also to understand how countries can fail, how humans can react in the face of disaster (both in fighting against it or nourishing it). It is a master piece, and helped me understand my own country, myself and wonder of how can we all learn from a complete collapse.

Great book. Not so great narration

Does a great job explaining why Venezuela collapsed. I have family in Venezuela and I knew some of the story but still learned a lot.

Unfortunately the narrator is not bilingual— he reads the English portions fine, and would do fine with another book (but not this one). This book had many Spanish names for people, cities, companies, etc — he struggled with those words throughout and did a terrible job pronouncing them. As a Spanish speaker it was painful to hear and really detracted from the audio book. It’s a shame that the publisher dropped the ball on this and didn’t use someone that had decent pronunciation (there are many bilingual narrators available who speak both languages perfectly and could have done a better job).

Worth the listen, interesting insights.

I learned a lot during the listen of this book. I'm glad accounts like this exist.

You can tell which way the authors political bias leans. Some of his political assertions seemed rather uncalled for, however I came to respect his views.

In the performance, the narrator's poor Spanish accent made some parts a bit distracting. A better bilingual narrator would further strengthen the important message and story of this book.

Great book! Very interesting and informative!

Great book! Very interesting and informative. I love the timeline and appreciate all of the explanations.

Incredible

From beginning to end, this book is totally captivating. Incredibly researched, this historical education of Venezuela is rich with story telling through human experiences. Tragic and difficult to read at times but extremely important. Don’t look away.

Populism disguised as Socialism

Compared to my personal experiences in Venezuela in the 90's, this was a very accurate and intimate description of the mood among the people. Neuman gets all of the little details correct. "It's Bever so Bad" is a masterclass on Geopolitics, macro economics, greed and the dangers of mixing Populist and Socialist ideologies. A dire warning and reminder of the fragility of society for the U.S. and elsewhere. 5/5 stars