"It used to be that only environmentalists and paranoids warned
about the world running out of oil and the future it could bring:
crashing economies, resource wars, social breakdown, agony at the
pump. Not anymore. . . . America's dependence on oil is too
pervasive to undo quickly, [Kunstler] warns. . . . In the meantime,
we'll have our hands full dealing with . . . the soaring
temperatures, rising sea levels and mega-droughts brought by global
climate change. Not long ago, a Jeremiah like Kunstler would have
been dismissed as a kook. . . . As brilliant as it is baleful . . .
and we disregard it at our peril." --The Washington Post "This is a
frightening and important book." --Time Out Chicago "If you give a
damn, you should read this book." --Colin Tudge, The Independent
"What sets The Long Emergency apart...is its comprehensive
sweep--its powerful integration of science, technology, economics,
finance, international politics and social change, along with a
fascinating attempt to peer into a chaotic future. Kunstler is such
a compelling and sometimes eloquent writer that the book is hard to
put down." -American Scientist "[A] popular blueprint for surviving
the end of oil." --Paul Greenberg, The New York Times Book Review
"Funny, irreverent, and blunt." -The Globe and Mail "An especial
strength of this book is its break with some of the more pernicious
strands in the contemporary left, specifically the left's kneejerk
rejection of America acting militarily in its national interest. .
. . There are hints of Malthus here, and of Oswald Spangler's
Decline of the West as well. Mr. Kunstler's book is a jeremiad,
driven by authorial presence. Pithy, entertaining descriptions of
historical phenomena like the Soviet Union . . . enliven the text,
allowing the veteran commentator to expound on themes that might
read leaden by a less facile wordsmith. . . . The book succeeds as
an accessible primer to a looming crisis that could end the
American way of life." --A.G. Gancarski, Washington Times "Kunstler
is an amusing and engaging observer and polemicist, and the terrain
he surveys is unforgiving and perilous." --Robert Birnbaum, The
Morning News "Novelist and journalist James Howard Kunstler is the
leading popular voice of peak oil, the theory that says we have
gone through more than half the world's supply of this much-needed
resource. Kunstler's regular Monday morning posts foretell a world
beset by oil shortages, which he believes will lead to everything
from financial shenanigans (sound familiar?) to food riots, not to
mention attacks on the wealthy, abandoned suburban housing
developments and a forced return to small-town living." --Helaine
Olen, Portfolio "Kunstler displays a kind of macabre wit about the
unpleasantness and strife that await us all. . . . His assertions
have a neat way of doubling back to anticipate your critiques. If
you express doubt about his views, then you may well be among the
deluded masses too addicted to your McSUV and McSuburb to accept
the reality that lies ahead."
--Katharine Mieszkowski, salon.com "Kunstler is America's version
of an Old Testament prophet, a stinging social critic who warns of
dark days ahead if we do not change the way we live." --Brian
Kaller, Pulse "Kunstler's book was shockingly readable and
engaging....He covers a vast array of topics...I felt like I'd
taken a crash course on Big Oil, Global Warming, and Geopolitics
just to name a few."--Romi Lassally, Huffington Post "James Howard
Kunstler's The Long Emergency may be destined to become the Dante's
Inferno of the twenty-first century. It graphically depicts the
horrific punishments that lie ahead for Americans for more than a
century of sinful consumption and sprawling communities, fueled by
the profligate use of cheap oil and gas. Its central message--that
the country will pay dearly unless it urgently develops new,
sustainable community-scale food systems, energy sources, and
living patterns--should be read, digested, and acted upon by every
conscientious U.S. politician and citizen." --Michael Shuman,
author of Going Local: Creating Self-Reliant Communities in a
Global Age "If you give a damn, you should read this book." --Colin
Tudge, The Independent (UK) "Kunstler concentrates on the
continuing environmental instability and the political consequences
of the fuel cessation in equal bouts and this makes for a well
rounded argument." --Buzz (UK) "In the annals of doomsday
literature . . . The Long Emergency is destined to become the new
standard. . . . Demands frank consideration of what up to now has
been unthinkable: that the ascendancy of the human race might have
been a temporary phenomenon. . . . This case has been made before,
but here it is made powerfully and articulately, with no apology
and no hint of reprieve. . . . The Long Emergency represents a
'wake-up call' in the same sense that a hand grenade tossed through
your bedroom window might serve as an alarm clock. The book is
stark and frightening. Read it soon." --Jim Charlier, Daily Camera
"A shrewd and engaging social commentator." --Sierra Atlantic "Adds
a relentless, scary, and entertaining voice to the rising alarm
about life after the cheap oil is gone. . . . The internal logic of
the argument is persuasive, and one reads . . . the book with white
knuckles." --Bryant Urstadt, technologyreview.com "Authoritative
and eye-opening. His predictions for the future make for a
page-turning 'Brave New World.'" --T-D (London) "James Howard
Kunstler has given us, with his usual engaging wit and verve, a new
kind
of post-apocalypse scenario. Instead of the nuclear or ice-age
wasteland of our earlier imaginings, he has depicted with detailed
extrapolation the civilization of the United States after the oil
runs out and a great economic collapse occurs. It is a strangely
arcadian vision, like the agrarian America that Jefferson, Calhoun,
and the Southern Agrarians dreamed of. But Kunstler has fleshed it
out with delightful quirky insights and provided our science
fiction writers with a fresh mise-en-scene." --Frederick Turner,
author of The New World and The Culture of Hope
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