AlterNet.org: Books

20 Principles for Successful Community Organizing

Si Kahn, Berrett-Koehler Publishing — Sat, 20 Mar 2010 00:00:01 PDT

Kahn's new book, "Creative Community Organizing: a Guide for Rabble-Rousers, Activists and Quiet Lovers of Justice," is a manifesto for the politically active.

The Consequences of Living in an Economic Free-For-All

Larry Elliott, Dan Atkinson, Nation Books — Fri, 19 Mar 2010 00:00:01 PDT

New book "The Gods That Failed" explains how limited liability companies help privatize profits and make the public absorb the losses.

A Few Reasons Why Dave Eggers Is a Great American

Don Hazen, AlterNet — Thu, 18 Mar 2010 00:00:01 PDT

Dave Eggers -- author, editor, publisher and teacher -- is a creative force who refuses to be discouraged by our terrible times.

Sealing in the Palestinians: The Story of the Most Controversial Border Wall in the World

Rene Backman, Picador Press — Sat, 13 Mar 2010 00:00:01 PST

An excerpt from Rene Backman's book, "A Wall in Palestine," which lays bare an international human rights controversy.

On the Front Lines of a Clean Energy Revolution: An Author's Incredible Journey After a Coal Company Destroys His Family's Ancestral Home and Land

Tara Lohan, AlterNet — Fri, 12 Mar 2010 08:00:01 PST

After a strip-mining operation obliterated the author's family homestead, he set out on a 10-year journey to examine the staggering human and environmental costs of coal.

Deportations & Mosque Closings: The War on Terror's Domestic Toll

Stephan Salisbury, Nation Books — Thu, 11 Mar 2010 16:00:01 PST

The War on Terror has ravaged many Muslim communities in the United States. Clerics and other community leaders are deported with no due process.

Pack Your Bags: Travel as a Political Act

Rick Steves, Perseus Books — Sun, 07 Mar 2010 15:00:01 PST

Travel connects people with people. It helps us fit more compatibly into a shrinking world. And it inspires creative new solutions to persistent problems facing our nation.

Glenn Beck Is Still Smearing Van Jones, Even After Jones Takes High Road Preaching 'Love' for Fox Host

Alexander Zaitchik, AlterNet — Thu, 04 Mar 2010 00:00:01 PST

Six months after Gateway Pundit forced Jones' White House resignation over a 9/11 petition, Beck revives ridiculous red-baiting act.

Hedges: Media Reformers Are out of Touch with the Reality of Today's Tabloid Media

Chris Hedges, Truthdig — Wed, 03 Mar 2010 00:00:01 PST

Hedges argues that John Nichols' and Robert McChesney's new book on how to rescue our media assumes "that people still value and want traditional news. They do not."

'Climate Hope': How a New Rebellion Against Coal Is Fueling the Drive for Clean Energy

Christine Shearer, Conducive — Tue, 02 Mar 2010 12:00:01 PST

Ted Nace talks about his new book, "Climate Hope," and gives a behind-the-scenes look at the intense mobilizations that are working to overturn Big Coal.

The Great American Bank Robbery

Joseph Stiglitz, W. W. Norton & Company — Sat, 27 Feb 2010 00:00:01 PST

How did the big banks nearly take down the entire economy and still continue to profit? Nobel Prize-winning economist Joseph Stiglitz explains.

Hey, America: It's Time to Redefine the 'Good Life'

Richard Wilkinson, Kate Pickett, AlterNet — Fri, 26 Feb 2010 09:00:01 PST

Although economic growth has been an important driver of human progress in the past, we in the developed world must now look elsewhere for improvements in our quality of life.

Ayn Rand, Hugely Popular Author and Inspiration to Right-Wing Leaders, Was a Big Admirer of Serial Killer

Mark Ames, AlterNet — Fri, 26 Feb 2010 00:00:01 PST

Her works are treated as gospel by right-wing powerhouses like Alan Greenspan and Clarence Thomas, but Ayn Rand found early inspiration in 1920's murderer William Hickman.

Confessions of a Cheesemonger: What Our Relationship to Cheese Says About American Culture

Gordon Edgar, Chelsea Green Publishing — Mon, 22 Feb 2010 16:00:01 PST

The average American consumes over 30 pounds of cheese a year. In 2005 the U.S. produced over nine billion pounds of cheese. Clearly, we love cheese.

Ecological Intelligence: Do Humans Have What it Takes to Survive?

Daniel Goleman, Broadway Business — Fri, 19 Feb 2010 12:00:01 PST

Society has lost touch with what may be the singular sensibility crucial to our survival as a species.

How the Unconscious Mind Can Act Out Our Prejudices

Shankar Vedantam, Random House Publishing Group — Thu, 18 Feb 2010 00:00:01 PST

Most people report feeling no prejudice, making bias hard to identify. But a new book explores how our unconscious minds color every individual and collective decision we make.

Michael Pollan: Forget Nutrition Charts, Eat What Grandma Said Is Good for You

Harry Kreisler, The New Press — Tue, 16 Feb 2010 00:00:01 PST

The author of 'The Omnivore's Dilemma' says science has supplanted cultural wisdom as a guide in telling us what to eat.

The End of Influence: What Happens When Other Countries Have America's Money

Stephen S. Cohen, J. Bradford DeLong, Basic Books — Thu, 11 Feb 2010 00:00:01 PST

America finds itself cash poor, and to a great extent, power follows money. A new book explores the grave consequences this loss will have for America's place in the world.

Behind the Scenes, GEâ€™s Top Exec Confided Credit Woes

Jeff Gerth, ProPublica — Mon, 08 Feb 2010 09:00:01 PST

Hank Paulson's new book details a very different recollection of events that persuaded FDIC Chair Sheila Bair to help guarantee over $70 billion in GE debt.

Shadow Elite: How the World's New Power Brokers Are Upending Our Democracy

Janine Wedel, AlterNet — Thu, 04 Feb 2010 00:00:01 PST

Wedel argues in her new book that a group of corrupted elites are destroying the principles that define modern states, free markets and democracy itself.