"This is a great time to be an American CEO, a tough time to be the CEO's lowest paid worker. A great time to be Wal-Mart, a tough time to be in Wal-Mart's way, a great time to be an incumbent extremist, a tough time to be a moderate challenger. Fabulous to be a defense contractor, shitty to be a reservist, excellent to tenure at Princeton, grueling to be an adjunct at Queens College; outstanding to manage a pension fund, lousy to rely on one; better than ever to bestselling, harder than ever to be mid-list; phenomenal to win a Texas Hold 'Em tournament, a drag to be a video-poker addict." -Jonathan Franzen