Dominant Trait

A Story of Social and Genetic Inequality

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Pub Date 15 Feb 2020 | Archive Date 07 Nov 2020

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Description

★ No longer can we think or discuss politics without strong emotion of anxiety, frustration, and even hate. TV, newspapers, and books often tell you what you should think. The difference in opinion on ethics and inequality are very real, yet we have become numb to the idea of having an open debate.

How do we fix this? By changing how we think. We expand our mental borders and look at situations from a unique vantage point. We consider a place only slightly different from our own. Not utopian and not dystopian, just different.  

Why does this work? Many of our preconceived notions will no longer apply in this place and you will also leave behind the anxiety, frustration and hate opening your mind to new considerations. 

For 25 years I worked in marketing and data analysis and the importance of unemotional, hard data has always been at the core of my work. But my actual strength has always been in understanding what the data is also not showing me. By allowing my thoughts to expand beyond the normal boundaries, the data can now be viewed very differently.  

I have used this same approach in my novel, Dominant Trait. By creating it as a work of fiction, I am providing a fun and safe place for the reader to let down their guard and consider many of the most important topics of today with an open mind. 

★ No longer can we think or discuss politics without strong emotion of anxiety, frustration, and even hate. TV, newspapers, and books often tell you what you should think. The difference in opinion...


Advance Praise

"What a pleasant surprise it was to buy and read a novel by an author I had never heard of; then find that I liked it a lot. I am talking about Michael Lee Abramson's paperback , copyright 2019. The story follows the paths of development of two teen-age boys (and some of their colleagues and families) into their adulthoods. It happens during a time when government in the U.S. enforces a benevolent (?), genetically-determined program of social fairness that appears to be accepted by the general population but not without exceptions. The program is not explained in detail. Nevertheless a reader soon gets the general sense of what takes place under it. The author's method of illustration is via the grading and sports practices at the boys' high school. Readers will recognize a certain trend of 'fairness' that has been present in the U.S. ever since post-World War 2 times. The story includes the dynamics of family and business relationships that exist under the program.

In this reviewer's opinion the author wanted to tell a story that while not 'short,' is also not long enough to cause readers to lose interest. Mr. Abramson's writing style is direct and without embellishment. His paragraphs are short. This attractive feature includes his use of dialogue. Sentences are brief while at the same time effective.

As long as readers accept the fact that this novel has been written in ways that show in general what the author considers to be important as well as unimportant, I believe that they will appreciate his style. I am reminded of the French 'Maigret' police procedurals (as translated into English). Aurthor Georges Simenon wrote those in minimalist style. (They were rarely longer than 200 pgs.) And he was certainly successful with them.

Some of us appreciate finding a novel that isn't packed with violence and profanity. Mr. Abramson performed a great favor for us in writing . The epithets are few and mild. Another thing I want to mention: The author's psychological science might not be exact for present times. But this IS a novel and his science is presented in a way as to be easily acceptable. In other words, it works well in his story.

I recommend the book to anyone who doesn't require the presence of 21st century 'knock-em-down-and kick'- em' type prose in the novels he chooses. Mr. Abramson has succeeded with his writing of . I hope he keeps it up.

N.B. There IS one thing I think could have been done better. That was the ending. Nevertheless this is a matter of personal preference. My thoughts about it won't matter to most readers, I think. And I still liked the book a lot."

"What a pleasant surprise it was to buy and read a novel by an author I had never heard of; then find that I liked it a lot. I am talking about Michael Lee Abramson's paperback , copyright 2019. The...


Available Editions

ISBN 9781734656909
PRICE $3.99 (USD)

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Featured Reviews

A very good book and unexpectedly so. I thank Netgalley and BooksGoSocial for the privilege of reading Dominant Trait: A Story of Social and Genetic Inequality by Michael Abramson. The book is now available as both Kindle and paperback editions.

At first I was a bit pessimistic about this book. It seemed like it was mainly about teenagers and sports but it was apparent it was in a society different from ours and seemed like it might be going off in a direction I would find boring. Then it got into a bit of politics discussing Republican and Social Democratic views and I was afraid it was tuning into the type of story where the political message dominants the story.

I was wrong and this turned out to be a wonderful book. It was long enough to develop the characters and their ideas while telling a good story. But not too long as to allow you to lose interest. As a geneticist I was particular interested in the portions on genetics,

In retrospect it seems that by introducing the main characters and the society as he did, the author creates a fictional and non-threatening space to expand on their political views and create a good story that made me (and probably other readers) examine the ideas behind this story.

I highly recommend Dominant Trait: A Story of Social and Genetic Inequality by Michael Abramson.

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Interesting look into a future where some of the world's current ideologies are now the law of the land. At times, I was reminded of "Brave New World" but this was something very different.

Throughout the book, I kept changing my mind about social issues and how far they should go, just as Walter and Julia did at different times in their life. As the expression goes, "The road to hell is paved with good intentions" and sometimes the government and corporations go to far. When a good idea is misunderstood and misinterpreted, things can go horribly wrong.

The science, technical and political/social aspects are easy to understand. Great book for a book club.

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