[Specop_007]

Like it says. If you knew of someone who was receptive to the idea of PO but didnt spend much time on the web what 2 books would you give them to read?

Thanks

[cipi604]

Last Light by Alex Scarrow
The Long Emergency by James Howard Kunstler

[Schmuto]

NOT twilight in the desert.



I don't recommend the LE because Kunstler is a nasty dude and the message might be lost in the vitriol.

Start him with LATOC.
Beyond oil.

[dunewalker]

"Reinventing Collapse" by Dmitry Orlov, as it explains the ramifications of peak oil from a lay perspective, in a credible and sometimes humorous manner.

Follow this with some classic doomer novel, this one is more "humane":

"Into The Forest" by Jean Hegland

for a review:

http://dcn.davis.ca.us/~gizmo/1997/hegland.html

[watercut]

The Coming Economic Collapse - The Case for $200 Barrel Oil by Stephen Leeb. An excellent book for the beginniner.

[Carlhole]

Like it says. If you knew of someone who was receptive to the idea of PO but didnt spend much time on the web what 2 books would you give them to read?

Thanks

You can pretty much just Wiki "peak oil" and get what you need to get.

I'd give him a couple of more interesting books for after he's read a couple of internet pages: (1) The Last Oil Shock: A Survival Guide to the Imminent Extinction of Petroleum Man

and,

Why Your World Is About to Get a Whole Lot Smaller: Oil and the End of Globalization by Jeff Rubin.

I haven't read the Rubin book, but Jeff Rubin is a familiar mainstream commentator on economic affairs with 20 years as Chief Economist for the Canada Imperial Bank Commerce. He has appeared on all the cable news shows frequently. When someone sees that even the mainstream is talking about peak oil, then they can remain ignorant of the concept only by deliberate choice.

[TheDude]

Book Review: Why Your World Is About to Get a Whole Lot Smaller. Not a bad tome, suitable for the timid, also not lengthy or full of arcana - nary a graph or formula to be had. Rubin makes the whole prospect seem quite mild - i.e., BAU but sans coffee or bananas or cross-continent skiing vacations.

Leeb has a new one that I've a request for at the library. Your friend might enjoy some of the interviews at Financial Sense Newshour, too, although none are exactly aimed at newbs. There's the Crash Course as well. Can't think of a book that duplicates what it conveys.

[mos6507]

Why not go for the sucker punch?

[Ludi]

"Collapse" by Jared Diamond

(which I still haven't read all of )

[TWilliam]

Matt's book Life After the Oil Crash is good because it's in a Q&A format and pretty much demolishes any objections one can raise against PO and its consequences.

While yes, Kunstler can be a bit vitriolic, The Long Emergency IMO is still one of the best books for illustrating how the end of the oil age will likely appear from a socio-economic perspective. As long as whoever you're recommending it to isn't a southern redneck type (Jim is especially un-enamored of the NASCAR crowd), it should be an engaging read.

[Carlhole]

Book Review: Why Your World Is About to Get a Whole Lot Smaller. Not a bad tome, suitable for the timid, also not lengthy or full of arcana - nary a graph or formula to be had. Rubin makes the whole prospect seem quite mild - i.e., BAU but sans coffee or bananas or cross-continent skiing vacations.

Yeah, but here's the description of The Last Oil Shock from Amazon:

Product Description
This may be the most important book you or anyone else will read in the next fifty years. Assuming humanity survives that long. Draining the lifeblood of industrial civilization, the terminal decline of oil and gas production will spark a crisis far more dangerous than international terrorism, and just as urgent as climate change. World leaders know it, so why aren't they telling? The last oil shock is the secret behind the crises in Iraq and Iran, the reason your gas bill is going through the roof, the basis of a secret deal cooked up in Texas between George Bush and Tony Blair, the cause of an imminent and unprecedented economic collapse, and the reason you may soon be kissing your car keys and boarding pass goodbye. David Strahan explains how we reached this critical state, how the silence of governments, oil companies and environmentalists conspires to keep the public in the dark, what it means for energy policy, and what you can do to protect yourself and your family from the ravages of the last oil shock.

First, thing that occurs to Ms. Gentlereader is that she thinks to herself, "Oh, this is just more peripheral crap. No wonder no one's ever heard of it...".

So, along with it, you give Ms. Gentlereader a brand, spanking new copy of a mainstream economist's take on the situation (Jeff Rubin's book).

Then you can be assured that a weighing of the true situation takes place in Ms. Gentlereader's mind. It's hard to call someone like Jeff Rubin a wing-nut or irrelevant.

[Caffeine]

"Reinventing Collapse" by Dmitry Orlov, as it explains the ramifications of peak oil from a lay perspective, in a credible and sometimes humorous manner.

I agree; Orlov's book is a good place to start.

[AirlinePilot]

Deffeyes book is pretty easy to get into. Hubbert's Peak. The coming world oil shortage.

I consider it a primer in that he talks a good bit about history and the oil patch and how it works along with
some good common sense explanations of why we are screwed.

[TWilliam]

So, along with it, you give Ms. Gentlereader a brand, spanking new copy of a mainstream economist's take on the situation (Jeff Rubin's book).

Then you can be assured that a weighing of the true situation takes place in Ms. Gentlereader's mind. It's hard to call someone like Jeff Rubin a wing-nut or irrelevant.

Assuming, of course, that Ms. G. holds a high opinion of economists...

[zeke]

My recommendation would be Kunstler's TLE.

I believe the reason Kunstler has earned scorn from so many is that he presents a stark and realistic view not only of the impending troubles related to peak oil, but he lays the responsibility for the mess squarely at the feet of "consumers," Americans, corporate interests, what have you.

Face it, that oil didn't leap out of the ground and hold us at gun point forcing us to drive 100 billion cars, and build a land of plastic crap and suburbs.

We did it and it is going to have consequences. Time to put on the grown-up pants and deal.

Lots of people don't care for their reality to be so...uh...realistic. They like to think that hydrogen cars or miracle energy technology is just around the corner.

Kunstler talks about this stuff, the economic corner we've backed ourselves into, the climate change we've inflicted and how they will impact our future...or gives a credible interpretation of how they could.

Grab it from the library. Read a chapter or two, and if it doesn't pass the smell test, or match your understanding of physics and how the world works, then bail.

Sometime in the near future, he's coming out with another book dealing with the diminishing returns of technology, which will probably piss of an entirely new crowd of people who worship at the altar of modern industrial output.

He puts out a weekly podcast, too, so you can hear the actual guy talk about these issues and how they relate to our cities and how they're configured. kunstlercast.com I think is the addy.

z