THURSDAY

It’s a good thing that the rich still die, because they sure as shit ain’t paying taxes. Or so says The Cheating of America: How Tax Avoidance and Evasion by the Super Rich are Costing the Country Billions—and What You Can Do About It, a new book by Charles Lewis (pictured) and Bill Allison. Apparently, a lot of rich U.S. citizens have discovered ways to avoid paying Uncle Sam a slice of their gross income. They cheat legally by exploiting existing loopholes in the tax code; they cheat not so legally by leaving the country, creating a whole new identity, and living the rest of their lives on the lam (which, actually, sounds like a lot of fun). Though the book claims to share DIY-ish tips on how you, too, can keep the rich from cheating on their taxes, the “What You Can Do About It” chapter is a brief five pages out of an over 300-page tome. And, in the end, Lewis and Allison’s book is so specific about how the rich avoid paying taxes that it almost comes across as a how-to for tax evaders. (Kind of reminds me of that article on counterfeiting that was so extensive in its reporting that some friends of mine used it as a blueprint to set up shop and start passing fake 20s.) Charles Lewis and Bill Allison will discuss their manual at 7 p.m. Thursday, April 12, at Olsson’s Books & Records, 1200 F St. NW. Free. (202) 347-3686. (Stefan Grudza)