Whether you are conservative, liberal, moderate or some variation in between, we’re all at the mercy of monopoly powers. We’re being given the runaround by big companies: cell phone providers, cable companies, health care providers, insurance companies, technology companies, transportation companies, food companies, media outlets, social media companies, banks…the list is endless.

Who can argue with the facts: monopoly companies are constantly finding new ways to charge you for more while giving you less. In his book Cornered, journalist Barry C. Lynn shows how monopoly powers are doing much more than giving you a run for your money. These behemoth powers are actually destroying the free and open market place, which is at very heart of our democracy.

Hold on and keep yourself afloat for a stormy ride on the northwest coast of England. Shakespearean Actor and Director Charles Arrowby has left the glamorous theater world of London to retire in a damp drafty home by the sea, presumably to write his memoir. As the narrator/protagonist, Charles Arrowby rants with the tireless exasperation of a self-obsessed madman. He craves solitude, yet a surreal cast of characters from his former life in theater appears and reappears, coming and going like the ebb and flow of a churning sea.