Going through a box of old stuff at my dad's house, I discovered an envelope that contained several unspent gift certificates given to me as presents -- twelve years ago for my Bar Mitzvah. One was to a B. Dalton bookstores. When I called and asked if I could redeem a gift certificate dated 1992, they said not only was it still good, but I could also use it at Barnes & Noble. With my unexpected $35, I bought Thomas Frank's What's the Matter With Kansas?, a book which has been mentioned as the "must-read political book of the year" on several different web sites. I'm halfway through, and my reaction so far is that instead of making me angry, like Al Franken's book did, this book just makes me sad.