AUGUST 2010
AUDIO BOOK REVIEWS
by Jonathan Lowe
 THE COKE MACHINE
by Michael Blanding is an eye opening expose which blows the
plastic lids off a company known to associate itself with
love and happiness through its billion dollar advertising
campaigns. According to Blanding, an investigative journalist,
Coca Cola has been complicit in brutality and murder against
union organizers in their bottling plants in Colombia. They
have usurped scarce water supplies in villages in India. And
here in the U.S. they have lied to consumers about the ingredients
in their products, contributing to an obesity epidemic in
schools, while only pretending to be eco-friendly and cute.
Regarding Coke's recycling program, launched in late 2007
due to a backlash against bottled water, Blanding states that
it has proved deceptive. Coke built a $50 million facility
in Spartanburg SC with the boast that it would recycle 100
million pounds per year by 2010. Promoting their "Give
It Back" campaign during American Idol, they put out
Coke-shaped recycling bins around parks, zoos, and stadiums
as a clever way to further advertise their product while appearing
eco-friendly. However, by 2010 the initial pledge of 30% recycled
materials was quietly downgraded to 10% "where commercially
viable." So Coke still gets 98% of its recycled materials
from outside sources, driving up the cost of recycled materials,
and doing next to nothing on the supply side. Meanwhile, they
resist efforts to go for redeemable bottles, the most proven
way of increasing recycling. With the subtitle "The Dirty
Truth Behind the World's Favorite Soft Drink," the book
lays out the entire case against Coke in startling clarity,
with 60 pages of footnotes. Can the company "spin doctor"
its way out of this, as before? Time will tell. In the meantime,
as Morgan Spurlock, author of SuperSize Me, says in endorsing
the hardcover, "After reading this book, good luck having
a Coke and a smile." (George K. Wilson narrates the audiobook
version. For an interview with the author, go to TowerReview.com)
|
Next, Ray Porter reads QUANTUM by Manjit Kumar, a biographical
exploration into the debates about the nature of reality held
between Einstein, Bohr and others. The text is lucid and engaging,
never over the heads of listeners, and as such is highly recommended
for anyone with an interest in science or not. These geniuses
were celebrities in their time, and what they thought is laid
out here (for the layman) better than ever before. Porter's
voice is commanding and engaging, and the text covers the
mid-20s to the 60s (Einstein died in 1955), when quantum mechanics
(which Einstein could never accept) had mostly been proven.
Partial vindication for Einstein has since come with the consensus
that quantum mechanics does not fully describe the nature
of matter, although string theory (or the unified field theory
Einstein sought in the last 30 years of his life, but did
not find) is not covered here. |
Anne Fortier has written an intriguing tale about a young
woman who investigates her family's history after her beloved
aunt Rose leaves an entire estate to her twin sister. Intriguing,
because she discovers that an ancestor named Giulietta (whose
parents were murdered in 1340) soon starts up a relationship
with a man named Romero in Siena, Italy. Could this story
have inspired Romeo & Juliet? Cassandra Campbell reads
JULIET, which merges past with present, as the protagonist
wonders whether she's now to be the next victim of a centuries
old blood feud. (Anne is on Facebook, and will answer your
questions, so you can find her there.)
|
Finally, THE MULLAH'S STORM is one of the first novels set
in the Afghan war. It's about being shot down and attempting
to survive, with a Taliban prisoner in tow, and the novel
is garnering praise as a taut suspense. Writer is decorated
airman Thomas W. Young. This is a visceral suspense novel
which engagingly explores the concept of how love and hatred
play out in war. Author Thomas W. Young and narrator Scott
Brick combine their considerable talents to here present an
absorbing tale of survival.
|
|