1. The Geography of Nowhere by James Howard Kunstler
2. Home From Nowhere by James Howard Kunstler
3. Better Not Bigger by Eben Fodor
4. A Swampwalker's Journal by David M. Carroll
THE RISE AND DECLINE OF AMERICA'S MAN-MADE LANDSCAPE by James Howard Kunstler A Touchstone Book, published by Simon and Schuster, 1993
Boston Globe reviewer Robert Taylor has described this book as "a wonderfully entertaining, useful and provocative account of the ravaging of the American environment by the auto, suburban developers, purblind zoning and corporate pirates."
The author himself, in the final chapter of his book, describes what must be done in the future...."The coming decades are bound to be difficult....We will have to replace a destructive economy of mindless expansion with one that consciously respects earthly limits and human scale. We will have to downscale our gigantic enterprises and institutions - corporations, governments, banks, schools, hospitals, markets, farms - and learn to live locally, hence responsibly. We will have to drive less and create decent public transportation that people want to use. We will have to produce less garbage, including pollution, and consume less fossil fuel. We will have to reacquire the lost art of civic planning and redesign our rules for building. If we can do these things, we may be able to recreate a nation of places worth caring about, places of enduring quality and memorable character."
2. HOME FROM NOWHEREREMAKING OUR EVERYDAY WORLD FOR THE 21st CENTURY by James Howard Kunstler A Touchstone Book, published by Simon and Schuster, 1998
The author describes the heart of this book, which is a follow-up to "The Geography of Nowhere", as "an argument for raising our standards in respect to our ordinary surroundings, along with some very explicit technical suggestions for accomplishing it."
His publisher expands on this statement with the following description of the book's contents:
"In "Home from Nowhere" Kuntsler not only shows that the original American Dream - the desire for peaceful pleasant places in which to work and live - still has a strong hold on our imaginations, but also offers innovative, eminently practical ways to make that dream a reality. Citing examples from around the country, he calls for the restoration of traditional architecture, the introduction of enduring design principles in urban planning, and the development of public spaces that acknowledge our need to interact comfortably with one another."
3. BETTER NOT BIGGERHOW TO TAKE CONTROL OF URBAN GROWTH AND IMPROVE YOUR COMMUNITY by Eben Fodor Published by New Society Publishers, 1999
Eben Fodor works in Oregon as a public interest community planning consultant (i.e., not a development planner) doing land use and growth management consulting, development impact analysis, and sustainable community planning. He writes articles on growth and sustainability issues and speaks on these topics across the U.S.
Dr. John H. Baldwin, Director, Institute for a Sustainable Environment, has described "Better Not Bigger" as follows..."a seminal book. It clearly defines and delineates the costs and benefits of community growth - who wins and loses - in an effort to more clearly, objectively, and fairly allocate community development resources. A must-read for community activists and decision-makers."
4. A SWAMPWALKER'S JOURNALA WETLANDS YEAR by David M. Carroll Published by Houghton-Mifflin, 1999
In the Introduction of his book, David Carroll (a resident of Warner, NH) writes: "It is my delight and good fortune to have spent a large measure of my life in wetlands. Each year I head out to the pools, marshes, and swamps at thaw, always with a particular eye out for turtles, and I stay there for as many hours of as many days as possible, until the ice returns. My intent in this book is to take the reader through some of my rounds and to convey aspects of what I see and experience over the cycle of the seasons."
In praise of Swampwalker's Journal, Robert Michael Pyle has written, "In my pantheon of nature writers, David Carroll walks on water. His perpetual damp prowl, illuminated by deft, limpid writing and exquisite drawings, makes for a near perfect book. Carroll has written the richest, smartest and most general account of a living land and waterscape since Henry Williamson's "Tarka the Otter."
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