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WHO'S POISONING AMERICA

Name: WHO'S POISONING AMERICA
Author: Ralph Nader
ISBN: 0871562766

CORPORATE POLLUTERS AND THEIR VICTIMS IN THE CHEMICAL AGE

edited by Ralph Nader Ronald Brownstein & John Richard ‧ RELEASE DATE: June 17, 1981

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Most of us will be familiar, at least in general terms, with the incidents detailed in this nine-part collection of reports, but the cumulative effect is still tragic and horrifying. We begin with a pollution overview: the rampant growth of the chemical industry, the increasing incidence of cancer and occupational disease, nuclear wastes, pesticides, fouled air and groundwater, oozing dumpsites, bureaucratic bungling, corporate hostility and neglect. Seven thoroughly documented case histories—by local people—follow: Michigan Chemical's fire retardant, PBB, mistakenly mixed with animal feed; kepone (a DDT-like pesticide), which poisoned Allied Chemical's own workers and the entire James River; West Valley's defunct and now festering nuclear waste reprocessing plant and dump, whose ownership was foisted upon N.Y. State; General Electric's discharge into the Hudson River of PCBs (chemical cousins of PBB), whose ill-effects were known back in 1936; Reserve Mining's dumping of pulverized rock containing asbestos-like fibers into Lake Superior; the herbicide 2,4,5-D and its lethal contaminant, dioxin, blithely sprayed by the military in Vietnam and the Forestry Service in the Pacific Northwest; and Hooker's infamous Love Canal. Nader himself winds up, outlining feasible preventative measures from integrated pest management schemes to "criminal penalties for corporate criminals." What emerges past the ineptitude and indifference at all levels of responsibility is the disturbing fact that most of these disasters could and should have been prevented, and that workers whose livelihood depends on chemicals, even hazardous ones, can't be expected to complain ("kepone trucking"). Carefully detailed, quietly implacable; a useful and chilling summary.

Pub Date: June 17, 1981

ISBN: 0871562766

Page Count: 369

Publisher: Sierra Club/Counterpoint

Review Posted Online: May 22, 2012

Kirkus Reviews Issue: June 1, 1981

Categories:

GENERAL NONFICTION

- BOOK REVIEW
ROCK ME ON THE WATER
by Ronald Brownstein

- BOOK REVIEW
THE SECOND CIVIL WAR
by Ronald Brownstein

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NUTCRACKER

by E.T.A. Hoffmann ‧ RELEASE DATE: Oct. 28, 1996

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This is not the Nutcracker sweet, as passed on by Tchaikovsky and Marius Petipa. No, this is the original Hoffmann tale of 1816, in which the froth of Christmas revelry occasionally parts to let the dark underside of childhood fantasies and fears peek through. The boundaries between dream and reality fade, just as Godfather Drosselmeier, the Nutcracker's creator, is seen as alternately sinister and jolly. And Italian artist Roberto Innocenti gives an errily realistic air to Marie's dreams, in richly detailed illustrations touched by a mysterious light. A beautiful version of this classic tale, which will captivate adults and children alike. (Nutcracker; $35.00; Oct. 28, 1996; 136 pp.; 0-15-100227-4)

Pub Date: Oct. 28, 1996

ISBN: 0-15-100227-4

Page Count: 136

Publisher: Harcourt

Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010

Kirkus Reviews Issue: Aug. 15, 1996

Categories:

GENERAL NONFICTION

- BOOK REVIEW
THE NUTCRACKER AND THE MOUSE KING
by E.T.A. Hoffmann ; adapted by Natalie Andrewson ; illustrated by Natalie Andrewson

- BOOK REVIEW
THE NUTCRACKER
by E.T.A. Hoffmann & illustrated by Julie Paschkis

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TO THE ONE I LOVE THE BEST

EPISODES FROM THE LIFE OF LADY MENDL (ELSIE DE WOLFE)

by Ludwig Bemelmans ‧ RELEASE DATE: Feb. 23, 1955

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An extravaganza in Bemelmans' inimitable vein, but written almost dead pan, with sly, amusing, sometimes biting undertones, breaking through. For Bemelmans was "the man who came to cocktails". And his hostess was Lady Mendl (Elsie de Wolfe), arbiter of American decorating taste over a generation. Lady Mendl was an incredible person,- self-made in proper American tradition on the one hand, for she had been haunted by the poverty of her childhood, and the years of struggle up from its ugliness,- until she became synonymous with the exotic, exquisite, worshipper at beauty's whrine. Bemelmans draws a portrait in extremes, through apt descriptions, through hilarious anecdote, through surprisingly sympathetic and understanding bits of appreciation. The scene shifts from Hollywood to the home she loved the best in Versailles. One meets in passing a vast roster of famous figures of the international and artistic set. And always one feels Bemelmans, slightly offstage, observing, recording, commenting, illustrated.