Catapult nov 2015 (5 Ergebnisse)

Taschenbuch. Zustand: Neu. Neuware - 'Stern but compassionate, author Wendell Berry raises broader issues that environmentalists rarely focus on . . . In one sense Berry is the voice of a rural agrarian tradition that stretches from rural Kentucky back to the origins of human civilization. But his insights are universal because Our Only World is filled with beautiful, compassionate writing and careful, profound thinking.' Associated PressThe planet's environmental problems respect no national boundaries. From soil erosion and population displacement to climate change and failed energy policies, American governing classes are paid by corporations to pretend that debate is the only democratic necessity and that solutions are capable of withstanding endless delay. Late Capitalism goes about its business of finishing off the planet. And we citizens are left with a shell of what was once proudly described as The American Dream.In this collection of eleven essays, Berry confronts headon the necessity of clear thinking and direct action. Never one to ignore the present challenge, he understands that only clearly stated questions support the understanding their answers require. For more than fifty years we've had no better spokesman and no more eloquent advocate for the planet, for our families, and for the future of our children and ourselves.…

Taschenbuch. Zustand: Neu. Neuware - Taking as its narrative engine the hunt for an animal that is legendarily rare, Richard Girling writes an engaging and highly informative history of humankind's interest in hunting and collecting - what prompts us to do this what good might come of our need to catalog all the living things of the natural world Girling, named Environmental Journalist of the Years 2008 and 2009, has here chronicled - through the hunt for the Somali golden mole - the development of the conservation movement, the importance of diversity in the animal kingdom, including humankind within this realm, as well as a hard look at extinction.The Somali mole of the title, first descibed in print in a text book published in 1964, had as sole evidence of its existence only the fragment of a jaw bone found in an owl pellet, a specimen that seemed to have vanished as Girling began his exploration. Intrigued by the elusiveness of this creature and what the hunt for the facts of its existence might tell us about extinction, he was drawn to the dusty vaults of museums of natural history where the most rare artifacts are stored and catalogued, as he found himself caught up in the need to track it down.Part quest, part travelog, the book that results not only offers an important voice to the scientific debate about extinction and biodiversity it becomes an environmental call to arms.…

Taschenbuch. Zustand: Neu. Neuware - In Stranger Than We Can Imagine, John Higgs argues that before 1900, history seemed to make sense. We can understand innovations like electricity, agriculture and democracy. The twentieth century, in contrast, gave us relativity, cubism, quantum mechanics, the id, existentialism, Stalin, psychedelics, chaos mathematics, climate change and postmodernism. In order to understand such a disorienting barrage of unfamiliar and knotty ideas, Higgs shows us, we need to shift the framework of our interpretation and view these concepts within the context of a new kind of historical narrative. Instead of looking at it as another step forward in a stable path, we need to look at the twentieth century as a chaotic seismic shift, upending all linear narratives.Higgs invites us along as he journeys across a century 'about which we know too much" in order to grant us a new perspective on it. He brings a refreshingly non-academic, eclectic and infectiously energetic approach to his subjects as well as a unique ability to explain how complex ideas connect and intersect-whether he's discussing Einstein's theories of relativity, the Beat poets' interest in Eastern thought or the bright spots and pitfalls of the American Dream.…

Taschenbuch. Zustand: Neu. Neuware - A seminal collection of ruminations on art, books, and music by one of the sharpest minds and sensibilities in both punk rock and literature.'Did you know that Mr. Punk Rock was an incisive essayist He is good on art, very good on movies, and unbeatable on pop-rock, with views deeply informed by experience.' Lucy SanteRichard Hell may best be known as a punk icon, a founding member of seminal bands Television, the Heartbreakers, and The Voidoids, but for decades he's been a prominent voice in American letters. Through his novels Go Now and Godlike, and his critically acclaimed autobiography, I Dreamed I Was a Very Clean Tramp, Hell has proven himself as a talented and insightful writer across many genres, in many forms. But one might argue that Richard's true genius lies in shorter form as a writer on culture. 'Love comes in spurts,' Hell once sang, and that could well describe the intensity of his penetrating and wickedly droll criticism.Massive Pissed Love is a collection of Hell's ruminations on art, literature, and music, among other things, that's like a candy box of reading treats, a bag of shiny marbles, a cabinet of mementos and uncanny fetishes. However one thinks of it, it's a joy to read from start to finish and a deeply necessary addition to the oeuvre of one of the sharpest minds and sensibilities at work today.…

Buch. Zustand: Neu. Neuware - Enjoy M.F.K. Fisher's strong sense of place and deep love of Provencewith this collection of rich, gorgeous photographs paired with some of Fisher's best-known essays.M.F.K. Fisher's Provence highlights Fisher's Celtic eye for detail with a comparison of Aix-en-Provence, a university town, the site of an international music festival and the former capital of Provence, and Marseille, the port town.Fisher's description of the sights and smells belonging to an Aix bakery shop window is her Platonic ideal of a bakery shop to be found anywhere in France, for example, with its "delicately layered" scents of "fresh eggs, fresh sweet butter, grated nutmeg, vanilla beans, old kirsch and newly ground almonds."Then, there is her portrayal of the sounds of Aix's fountains mixed with the music of Mozart during the town's festival, leaving her bedazzled. She would return again and again to stroll the narrow streets of Aix with two young daughters who "seemed to grow like water-flowers under the greening buds of the plane trees."It is the quality of Fisher's writing that inspired photographer Aileen Ah-Tye to look for her Provence. In a letter to Fisher, Aileen would report back from Marseille: "The eels and the prickly rascasse were exotique to my San Francisco eyes, the smells as pungent as you can get, and . . . miracle of all miracles . . . the men and women on the docks were exactly as you described them."Thus began a collaboration that illustrates Fisher's passion for life and all its sensual pleasures that nourish the soul."It's difficult to pick out just one favorite travel book. But if I had to pick just one favorite, it wouldn't exactly be a travel book, but rather a 'being there' book and that is Two Towns in Provence by M.F.K. Fisher . . . [Reading it] was one of the turning moments in my life. She was writing about a café I've subsequently come to know very well in Aix-en-Provence called the Deux Garçons. I could smell it, and I could taste the little things she and her children were having at the time. And I thought, That's where I want to be." Peter Mayle.…