A thoughtful and pragmatic consideration of an increasingly important topic.
An exploration of ways in which ecological responsibility can be combined with commercial profitability.
Debut author Kheel, the director of the Center for Sustainability think tank, had only just finished graduate school—he earned a master’s from Cornell University in environmental management—when he was given an opportunity to work for Grupo Puntacana, a consortia of tourism-related businesses, including hotels and golf courses, which had been co-founded by his great-uncle.To his surprise, the group was way ahead of the curve when it came to its ecological obligations, taking seriously its imprint on the environment “long before it was in vogue,” even though it was struggling financially. In clear, accessible language, Kheel recounts his own attempts to combine maximum profitability with maximum environmental responsibility using a strategic approach of “sustainable development.” Applied to tourism, this translates into a quest to “attract visitors to new destinations without degrading the natural and cultural assets that drew them there in the first place.” The author discusses his experience in great detail, using concrete examples to illustrate the need for rigorous analysis and ceaseless innovation; for instance, he notes how Grupo Puntacana uses recycled, treated water and specialized grass seed to make golf-course maintenance more efficient and built its own recycling plant. Also, he makes the argument that although environmentalists are often suspicious of big business, today’s companies enjoy “unprecedented power and reach,” endowing them with a unique position with which to effect lasting change. Kheel’s reflection is certainly a familiar one; there’s no shortage of literature today on how business can minimize its impact on nature. However, this is an engaging, edifying work shorn of any naïve idealism, as the author appreciates the challenges while also conceding the unceasing need for profits. He also admits that his book isn’t an easily reproducible “blueprint,” particularly given its highly specific tourism focus. Still, he provides an edifying overview of how an “eco-efficient” business can cut costs, increase profits, and assume the role of caretaker of the environment.
A thoughtful and pragmatic consideration of an increasingly important topic.Pub Date: April 6, 2021
ISBN: 978-1-54-452012-4
Page Count: 274
Publisher: Lioncrest Publishing
Review Posted Online: Aug. 18, 2021
Review Program: Kirkus Indie
A powerful reiteration of principles—and some fresh ideas—from the longest-serving independent in congressional history.
Another chapter in a long fight against inequality.
Building on his Fighting Oligarchy tour, which this year drew 280,000 people to rallies in red and blue states, Sanders amplifies his enduring campaign for economic fairness. The Vermont senator offers well-timed advice for combating corruption and issues a robust plea for national soul-searching. His argument rests on alarming data on the widening wealth gap’s impact on democracy. Bolstered by a 2010 Supreme Court decision that removed campaign finance limits, “100 billionaire families spent $2.6 billion” on 2024 elections. Sanders focuses on the Trump administration and congressional Republicans, describing their enactment of the “Big Beautiful Bill,” with its $1 trillion in tax breaks for the richest Americans and big social safety net cuts, as the “largest transfer of wealth” in living memory. But as is his custom, he spreads the blame, dinging Democrats for courting wealthy donors while ignoring the “needs and suffering” of the working class. “Trump filled the political vacuum that the Democrats created,” he writes, a resonant diagnosis. Urging readers not to surrender to despair, Sanders offers numerous legislative proposals. These would empower labor unions, cut the workweek to 32 hours, regulate campaign spending, reduce gerrymandering, and automatically register 18-year-olds to vote. Grassroots supporters can help by running for local office, volunteering with a campaign, and asking educators how to help support public schools. Meanwhile, Sanders asks us “to question the fundamental moral values that underlie” a system that enables “the top 1 percent” to “own more wealth than the bottom 93 percent.” Though his prose sometimes reads like a transcribed speech with built-in applause lines, Sanders’ ideas are specific, clear, and commonsensical. And because it echoes previous statements, his call for collective introspection lands as genuine.
A powerful reiteration of principles—and some fresh ideas—from the longest-serving independent in congressional history.Pub Date: Oct. 21, 2025
ISBN: 9798217089161
Page Count: 160
Publisher: Crown
Review Posted Online: Oct. 21, 2025
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Dec. 15, 2025
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
Striking research showing the immense complexity of ordinary thought and revealing the identities of the gatekeepers in our...
A psychologist and Nobel Prize winner summarizes and synthesizes the recent decades of research on intuition and systematic thinking.
The author of several scholarly texts, Kahneman (Emeritus Psychology and Public Affairs/Princeton Univ.) now offers general readers not just the findings of psychological research but also a better understanding of how research questions arise and how scholars systematically frame and answer them. He begins with the distinction between System 1 and System 2 mental operations, the former referring to quick, automatic thought, the latter to more effortful, overt thinking. We rely heavily, writes, on System 1, resorting to the higher-energy System 2 only when we need or want to. Kahneman continually refers to System 2 as “lazy”: We don’t want to think rigorously about something. The author then explores the nuances of our two-system minds, showing how they perform in various situations. Psychological experiments have repeatedly revealed that our intuitions are generally wrong, that our assessments are based on biases and that our System 1 hates doubt and despises ambiguity. Kahneman largely avoids jargon; when he does use some (“heuristics,” for example), he argues that such terms really ought to join our everyday vocabulary. He reviews many fundamental concepts in psychology and statistics (regression to the mean, the narrative fallacy, the optimistic bias), showing how they relate to his overall concerns about how we think and why we make the decisions that we do. Some of the later chapters (dealing with risk-taking and statistics and probabilities) are denser than others (some readers may resent such demands on System 2!), but the passages that deal with the economic and political implications of the research are gripping.
Striking research showing the immense complexity of ordinary thought and revealing the identities of the gatekeepers in our minds.Pub Date: Nov. 1, 2011
ISBN: 978-0-374-27563-1
Page Count: 512
Publisher: Farrar, Straus and Giroux
Review Posted Online: Sept. 3, 2011
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Sept. 15, 2011
BOOK REVIEW
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