Who Is Government?: The Untold Story of Public Service

A NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER. One of President Obama's 2025 Summer Reads. An all-star team of writers and storytellers go in search of the essential public servant. Who works for the government and why does their work matter? Michael Lewis invited his favorite writers, including Casey Cep, Dave Eggers, John Lanchester, Geraldine Brooks, Sarah Vowell, and W. Kamau Bell, to join him in writing about someone doing an interesting job for the government. The stories include a former coal miner devoted to making mine roofs less likely to collapse, an IRS agent straight out of a crime thriller, and the manager who made the National Cemetery Administration the best-run organization in the entire country. Each essay shines a spotlight on the essential behind-the-scenes work of exemplary federal employees.