A pragmatic but genuinely uplifting guide to greater sustainability.
Romer presents a game plan for an environmentally sustainable future in this nonfiction work.
The author, an operating partner in a private equity firm focused on environmental, social, and governance issues, uses an autobiographical lens to flesh out a practical vision of sustainability intended to lead humanity into a more environmentally healthy future. Romer reflects on his boyhood in Nassau, New York and grounds much of his book in his experiences working his property on Nassau Lake. He describes his personal conflict of promoting environmental responsibility while also running the family business manufacturing plastic products (“To survive financially, I might have to sacrifice the preservation of the environment,” he writes. “To play my part in preserving the planet, I might have to sacrifice our company”). From these stories about his background and life with his family (including his wife and their three sons) in Nassau, Romer builds a model of sustainability around what he calls an “aspirational zero waste” ethos, a “circular economy” that aims to eliminate as much waste as possible. “Pollution is a disease with no cure,” Romer writes, “it can only be prevented.” He details methods of prevention including recycling, composting, reusing, and rethinking landfills; his discussion of these practices is a very winning combination of idealism and hard facts (“The time–CO2 emissions graph looks like an ever-rising Olympic ski jump hill. We are presently at the top, but looking up instead of down”). He’s especially convincing about recycling, explaining that it must meet three criteria: efficient collection, efficient processing, and “viable end markets.” The author’s decision to ground so much of his book in autobiography can occasionally lead to tediously predictable passages (“we kids filled our days with stick ball, football, swimming, wiffle ball”), but the idealism easily wins out. When Romer writes, “Knowledge provides personal power. Applying it empowers others,” similarly idealistic readers will be inspired.
A pragmatic but genuinely uplifting guide to greater sustainability.Pub Date: Sept. 13, 2023
ISBN: 979-8218170493
Page Count: 228
Publisher: Birdwatch Publishing
Review Posted Online: Aug. 14, 2023
Review Program: Kirkus Indie
BOOK REVIEW
Dogged original research and superb narrative skills come together in this gripping account of pitiless evil.
Greed, depravity, and serial murder in 1920s Oklahoma.
During that time, enrolled members of the Osage Indian nation were among the wealthiest people per capita in the world. The rich oil fields beneath their reservation brought millions of dollars into the tribe annually, distributed to tribal members holding "headrights" that could not be bought or sold but only inherited. This vast wealth attracted the attention of unscrupulous whites who found ways to divert it to themselves by marrying Osage women or by having Osage declared legally incompetent so the whites could fleece them through the administration of their estates. For some, however, these deceptive tactics were not enough, and a plague of violent death—by shooting, poison, orchestrated automobile accident, and bombing—began to decimate the Osage in what they came to call the "Reign of Terror." Corrupt and incompetent law enforcement and judicial systems ensured that the perpetrators were never found or punished until the young J. Edgar Hoover saw cracking these cases as a means of burnishing the reputation of the newly professionalized FBI. Bestselling New Yorker staff writer Grann (The Devil and Sherlock Holmes: Tales of Murder, Madness, and Obsession, 2010, etc.) follows Special Agent Tom White and his assistants as they track the killers of one extended Osage family through a closed local culture of greed, bigotry, and lies in pursuit of protection for the survivors and justice for the dead. But he doesn't stop there; relying almost entirely on primary and unpublished sources, the author goes on to expose a web of conspiracy and corruption that extended far wider than even the FBI ever suspected. This page-turner surges forward with the pacing of a true-crime thriller, elevated by Grann's crisp and evocative prose and enhanced by dozens of period photographs.
Dogged original research and superb narrative skills come together in this gripping account of pitiless evil.Pub Date: April 18, 2017
ISBN: 978-0-385-53424-6
Page Count: 352
Publisher: Doubleday
Review Posted Online: Feb. 1, 2017
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Feb. 15, 2017
BOOK TO SCREEN
BOOK TO SCREEN
BOOK TO SCREEN
An engrossing and ominous chronicle, told by a master of the form.
Documenting perilous times.
In his most recent behind-the-scenes account of political power and how it is wielded, Woodward synthesizes several narrative strands, from the Jan. 6, 2021, insurrection and Hamas’ Oct. 7, 2023, attack on Israel to the 2024 presidential campaign. Woodward’s clear, gripping storytelling benefits from his legendary access to prominent figures and a structure of propulsive chapters. The run-up to Russia’s invasion of Ukraine is tense (if occasionally repetitive), as a cast of geopolitical insiders try to divine Vladimir Putin’s intent: “Doubt among allies, the public and among Ukrainians meant valuable time and space for Putin to maneuver.” Against this backdrop, U.S. Sen. Lindsey Graham implores Donald Trump to run again, notwithstanding the former president’s denial of his 2020 defeat. This provides unwelcome distraction for President Biden, portrayed as a thoughtful, compassionate lifetime politico who could not outrace time, as demonstrated in the June 2024 debate. Throughout, Trump’s prevarications and his supporters’ cynicism provide an unsettling counterpoint to warnings provided by everyone from former Joint Chief of Staff Mark Milley to Vice President Kamala Harris, who calls a second Trump term a likely “death knell for American democracy.” The author’s ambitious scope shows him at the top of his capabilities. He concludes with these unsettling words: “Based on my reporting, Trump’s language and conduct has at times presented risks to national security—both during his presidency and afterward.”
An engrossing and ominous chronicle, told by a master of the form.Pub Date: Oct. 15, 2024
ISBN: 9781668052273
Page Count: 448
Publisher: Simon & Schuster
Review Posted Online: Oct. 15, 2024
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Dec. 15, 2024
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