from Amazon.com:
Perhaps they really are just a pair of lucky people, but Milton and Rose Friedman are so perfectly matched that destiny must have played some part in their coming together. Milton is a Nobel Prize-winning economist, Rose, an influential theorist who advised American presidents and world leaders on the formation of their economic policies. Together the two wrote books (one flopped, the other is 1982's Free to Choose, a runaway bestseller) and were instrumental in influencing systems and ideas like negative income tax, the balanced budget amendment, tax-withholding, and even drug legalization. At times their ideas seemed outrageous but their strong belief that personal freedom is essential to a sound economy has helped shape many of the West's socioeconomic policies in the latter half of the 20th century.

And it is together, too, that the Friedmans penned their memoirs. The tone of Two Lucky People is quite humble despite their considerable achievements. They remember the lingering, technical conversations--which would put most people to sleep--that they shared in front of their fireplace; the personal and professional relationships they had with Ronald Reagan, Richard Nixon, and Margaret Thatcher; Milton's winning of the 1976 Nobel Memorial Prize for Economic Science; and countless other triumphs in their field. The book lacks the personal information--tastes in literature, art, music--and the quotidian details that help form a solid sense of personality. But their passion for their vocation seems all-consuming and maybe, in the end, that's what defines them best.

from Amazon.com:
It's 1916 in the fictional town of St. Elmo, California, and it hasn't rained in weeks. Drastic measures are due. Over steak, eggs, pie, and coffee, St. Elmo's biggest bigwigs strike a deal with the much maligned rainmaker, Hank Beecham: if he fills the reservoir with water, they'll pay him $50,000; if he fails, he won't get a cent.

When Hank heads up into the hills with his dynamite, caps, and gunpowder as well as his "battalion of tins and ladles, a flotilla of scoops and long-handled spoons," most of the town is skeptical. But when explosions and flying debris give way to that old familiar pitter patter, it's apparent Hank is no amateur in procuring precipitation. This time, though, he's gone too far. Before you can say "hell in a handbasket," the dam's about to burst, and with it Hank's hopes of retrieving his financial due.

In this tightly woven tale of honor, love, and greed, we're supplied with a healthy dose of odd characters, page-turning intrigue, and a playful look at the Old West. "Like metal from which every alloy has been burnt off, leaving only what is hard and pure," Kalpakian puts her prose through the proverbial refiner's fire. What is left can only shine.