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Author Archive | Katherine J. Chen

Condemning the “go green” movement may seem like a risky move, but David Owen pulls it off. In “Green Metropolis: Why Living Smaller, Living Closer, and Driving Less are the Keys to Sustainability,” Owen backs up his otherwise mind-boggling statements with thoroughly researched facts. Though most people have condemned Manhattan as an ecological housing nightmare, Owen believes that the city should serve as a model of environmental stewardship for communities around the world. Nobody wants to have a car in New York, Owen claims, because the streets are always so congested, thus encouraging hundreds of thousands of commuters to walk, take the bus, or hop on a subway. Aside from championing the green lifestyles of the Manhattan community, he criticizes the green culture’s move away from cities and toward open space, replete with high-tech products that waste money and promote wishful-thinking consumerism. Kurt Anderson, author of “The Real Thing,” calls the book “a bracing, important work of contrarian truth-telling.” And Publishers Weekly has this to say:

“Green Metropolis”

In “Green Metropolis,” David Owen argues that New York City is not only the greatest place to live in America—it’s also the greenest.

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“Stitches”

Hauntingly written and accompanied by mesmerizing sketches, “Stitches” recounts author David Small’s adolescent years.

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In CHEAP We Trust: The Story of a Misunderstood American Virtue

“In Cheap We Trust”

Lauren Weber challenges the guilt-free spending that many Americans have come to take for granted.

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Where Men Win Glory: The Odyssey of Pat Tillman

“Where Men Win Glory”

Pat Tillman, the football star who turned down a million-dollar NFL contract to join the military, is the star of Jon Krakauer’s latest book

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Lies My Mother Never Told Me: A Memoir

“Lies My Mother Never Told Me”

Kaylie Jones struggles to emerge from the shadow of her father’s legacy after growing up with the likes of Kurt Vonnegut, James Baldwin, and Norman Mailer.

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The Lost City of Z: A Tale of Deadly Obsession in the Amazon (Vintage Departures)

“The Lost City of Z”

David Grann mixes fact and conjecture to tell the story of Percy Fawcett, the Victorian explorer lost in the Amazon rainforest and—until now—in the pages of history.

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Mike Bloomberg: Money, Power, Politics

“Mike Bloomberg”

New York Times reporter Joyce Purnick paints a complicated, in-depth portrait of New York City’s 108th mayor in her telling biography, “Mike Bloomberg.”

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Anne Frank: The Book, The Life, The Afterlife

“Anne Frank”

“Anne Frank” by Francine Prose combines literary gossip and historical facts to lay claim to the belief that the young WWII icon was nothing short of a literary genius.

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Cheerful Money: Me, My Family, and the Last Days of Wasp Splendor

“Cheerful Money”

Tad Friend, a staff writer for the New Yorker, pens a hilarious and touching memoir about quirky relatives on the brink of extinction.

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Everything Ravaged, Everything Burned: Stories

“Everything Ravaged, Everything Burned”

Wells Tower delves into the lives of fathers, sons, brothers, and ex-husbands struggling to love and survive in the depths of Wild America.

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