A straightforward and engaging look at how humans conduct affairs with the Earth.
An entertaining, tenable overview of why humans behave like dolts when it comes to protecting the environment.
“The simple truth is that humanity is poisoning the world,” writes Chism. According to the author, our animal emotions have been operating for millions of years so it is our ancient lineage to keep operating as such. Our cerebral cortex has but a 100,000-year history; our thinking is stepchild to our hardwiring, and the ancient hardwiring still dominates; and evolutionary instincts such as fear, status (regulating self-esteem and self-confidence), clannishness, sex and violence remain in sway. Our socialization and belief systems give us the narrowest of compasses; emotions provide motivational energy; and denial demands us to meet threats to our belief systems (personality traits colored by a moral and aesthetic sensibility) with dismissal or force. In the service of clarity and implementation–though Chism appreciates complexity, nuance and interconnectedness as well and quietly works them into his argument–he has synthesized and reduced a good swath of intellectual history to make his end product bell-clear. “We can override our ancient programming by employing discipline through reasoning and logic, but it is much like swimming upstream,” which is very much counter to our lizard brain, ruled by us-versus-them, desperate consumption and the swagger of tribal status. In the modern world, our brains–tuned to a small population and absent of technology–are feeding us a cyanide pill. It will take much time, writes Chism, to quell the urge to reproduce in suicidal numbers, achieve consumption sustainably, and stanch cultural arrogance and the fears that incite hatred. Chism’s thesis is lively and provocative, but he can be naïve about the historical particularities of international politics–witness his thoughts on Afghanistan–and when he offers comments like “we need to mobilize the world’s celebrities…to popularize zero emission fuels.”
A straightforward and engaging look at how humans conduct affairs with the Earth.Pub Date: Aug. 27, 2007
ISBN: 978-0-6151-5686-6
Page Count: 158
Publisher: N/A
Review Posted Online: May 23, 2010
Review Program: Kirkus Indie
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
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
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.
Pub Date: Feb. 23, 1955
ISBN: 0670717797
Page Count: -
Publisher: Viking
Review Posted Online: Oct. 25, 2011
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Feb. 1, 1955
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