Yesterday we tweeted a chapter-by-chapter review of Vikram Akula's new book, A Fistful of Rice: My Unexpected Quest to End Poverty. In case you missed them onTwitter, here is the full review for you, tweet by tweet:
In his new book #vikramakula = Yunus version 2.0. Mantra: not earning profit is unethical. http://amzn.to/barLrm #SKS
Ch. 1: #vikramakula thumbs across US w/$20, finds morality and proves Nietzsche wrong. #SKS to follow. http://amzn.to/barLrm
Ch 2 #vikramakula as a development worker, learns how tough village life is and how tough-minded village women are. http://amzn.to/barLrm
Ch 2: New ideology, “putting the last first.” Development must be participatory! (Easier said than done) http://amzn.to/barLrm
Ch 3: Grameen initiation. #vikramakula emulates Yunus, vows to outperform him. Oedipus? http://amzn.to/barLrm
Ch 3: 1998. #SKS starts w/$52k from friends. Idea: commercialize! 1st: pull strings to avoid corruption. http://amzn.to/barLrm
Ch 4: 12/98: 165 members, 8 villages. Fighting thugs and biases. OK start, but how to get huge? http://amzn.to/barLrm
Ch 5: New idea: Standardize, exploit tech. Still, old-style problems: thugs, a fatwa, guerillas. http://amzn.to/barLrm #SKS
Ch 5: 2002, #vikramakula divorced, emotionally spent, in debt. Hello McKinsey, Chicago. http://amzn.to/barLrm
Ch 6: 2005 Rahul Gandhi visits #SKS. 120K borrowers. Feeling big, but quests for bigger. http://amzn.to/barLrm
Ch 6: 2006 200K borrowers. Sits down w/Gates and Buffett. WSJ notices. VCs put in $11.5m. Big time! http://amzn.to/barLrm #SKS
Ch 6: #vikramakula: High profit is more ethical than nonprofit #microfinance. Yunus: Scroundrels! http://amzn.to/barLrm
Ch 7: Google territory. #SKS future: cross-marketing and aggregating buying power. Happy ending? http://amzn.to/barLrm
Fistful of Rice: Great story. Now waiting for the other side of it. http://amzn.to/barLrm

Editors’ Note: Hi, Laura and Jonathan here. A few of the pieces this week come from people who spent years up close with how poor households actually handle money, and keep coming back with something more tangled than the story usually told, and more persistent. Tim will be back for the next edition. - Laura Freschi and Jonathan Morduch