The Last Chapter

David Greenberg observes that almost every book "aspiring to analyze a social or political problem" ends with "an obligatory prescription that is utopian, banal, unhelpful or out of tune with the rest of the book." Kevin Drum explains why final chapters often disappoint:

[A]ny social or political problem that’s hard enough to be interesting is also hard enough to have no obvious solutions. In fact, most of them are hard enough not to have any short-term solutions at all, obvious or not.

Joyner nods:

[A]n author spends the entirety of a book or article ensconced in his comfort zone and is then forced to put on a prognosticator or policy guru hat to wrap up the work in a neat bow, which he’s likely unqualified to do.