"Crude World: A Journey Into the Violent Twilight of Oil"
A lecture by Peter Maass
Thursday, October 15, 2009
04:00PM
Trimble Forum
Contact: Don Share, Politics and Government (share@pugetsound.edu)
Peter Maass is a journalist for the New York Times Magazine. He will talk about his book by the same name. His book is a stunning and revealing examination of oil’s indelible impact on the countries that produce it and the people who possess it
“Peter Maass takes a fascinating, nightmarish journey to the far end of the pipeline. If you want to know the true cost of America's oil addiction—and if even you don't—you should read this book.” —Elizabeth Kolbert, author of Field Notes from a Catastrophe
“The meek shall inherit the earth, but not the mineral rights.” So said J. Paul Getty—a name synonymous with big oil and the big money that often follows—and it’s an apt summary of how things work when it comes to the slippery substance that runs the world. In CRUDE WORLD: The Violent Twilight of Oil (Knopf, 9/22), acclaimed journalist Peter Maass examines the “resource curse”—why the countries that possess oil are often the worst off—and how our oil addiction fuels poverty and unrest around the world.
Oil is everywhere. Virtually no aspect of our lives is untouched by it, from our daily commute to our daily bread, but we rarely see the actual product. CRUDE WORLD paints the picture of oil with people, not polemics. Maass reports from the trenches, employing a boots-on-the-ground approach that takes him from Texas, Russia, Iraq and Saudi Arabia to Nigeria, Venezuela, and Equatorial Guinea (where Maass was expelled as an accused spy). In each place, Maass traces the horrors wrought by corrupt and ineffective governments in conjunction with Big Oil. What emerges is a picture of oil with a price tag of both environmental devastation and humanitarian woe, filled with unspeakable wealth, lives lost and devastated landscapes.
Maass’ explosive investigation is already garnering praise. Robert Redford calls CRUDE WORLD “an illuminating narrative of the true impact of the global dependence on oil.” Robert Reich says, “with the clarity of a hard-boiled investigator and the grace of a fine writer, Peter Maass reveals how oil has cursed the countries that possess it, corrupted those who want it, and wrought havoc on a world addicted to it. Brilliant and compelling.”
