Melody Murray's Books

The incredibly depressing first part of this book is redeemed by the hopeful ending. A lot of the hope boils down to "know your neighbors, band together, make a micro-community" and a lot of the doom and gloom boils down to "we've really, really screwed up the world". I don't think I learned a whole lot of brand new stuff here, but I've been specializing in this sort of book for the last several months. McKibben is a good writer and an engaging teller of tales. I did learn that Wal*Mart is the largest owner of vacant properties in the US. That was interesting.It's a book well worth reading, especially if you haven't read a million other similar books. It's more pop sci than, say, What We Leave Behind orThe End of the Wild and as such might be a better book to give to your Aunt Sadie or your mom.