UNITED STATES AUTHOR · CHILDREN · FICTION
Alan Weisman
Also known as: Alan WEISMAN, Alan weisman
Alan H. Weisman, an American author, professor, and journalist, was born in Minneapolis, Minnesota. He holds a bachelor's degree in literature and a master's degree in journalism from Northwestern University. From 2004 to 2013 he was Laureate Professor in Journalism and Latin American Studies at the University of Arizona. He has also taught writing and journalism at Prescott College and Williams College and has been a Fulbright Scholar in Colombia. He has written several books and won numerous international awards for his work in journalism and literature. His reports from around the world have appeared in leading magazines, and in several anthologies. He is also a producer of radio documentaries for Homelands Productions, creating reports for National Public Radio and American Public Media. Source: Wikipedia
IT WAS NOON on a bright-blue autumn day in early October of the war year 1942.
— from Countdown, 2009
Most acclaimed
Countdown
2009
A powerful investigation into the chances for humanity's future from the author of the bestseller The World Without Us. In his bestselling book The World Without Us, Alan Weisman considered how the Earth could heal and even refill empty niches if relieved of humanity's constant pressures. Behind that groundbreaking thought experiment was his hope that we would be inspired to find a way to add humans back to this vision of a restored, healthy planet-only in harmony, not mortal combat, with the rest of nature. But with a million more of us every 4 1/2 days on a planet that's not getting any bigger, and with our exhaust overheating the atmosphere and altering the chemistry of the oceans, prospects for a sustainable human future seem ever more in doubt. For this long awaited follow-up book, Weisman traveled to more than 20 countries to ask what experts agreed were probably the most important questions on Earth--and also the hardest: How many humans can the planet hold without capsizing? How robust must the Earth's ecosystem be to assure our continued existence? Can we know which other species are essential to our survival? And, how might we actually arrive at a stable, optimum population, and design an economy to allow genuine prosperity without endless growth? Weisman visits an extraordinary range of the world's cultures, religions, nationalities, tribes, and political systems to learn what in their beliefs, histories, liturgies, or current circumstances might suggest that sometimes it's in their own best interest to limit their growth. The result is a landmark work of reporting: devastating, urgent, and, ultimately, deeply hopeful. By vividly detailing the burgeoning effects of our cumulative presence, Countdown reveals what may be the fastest, most acceptable, practical, and affordable way of returning our planet and our presence on it to balance. Weisman again shows that he is one of the most provocative journalists at work today, with a book whose message is so compelling that it will change how we see our lives and our destiny.
Lone Star
2006
"From the bestselling, acclaimed author of Tully and The Bronze Horseman comes the unforgettable love story between a college-bound young woman and a traveling troubadour on his way to war--a moving, compelling novel of love lost and found set against the stunning backdrop of Eastern Europe. Chloe is just weeks away from heading off to college and starting a new life far from her home in Maine when she embarks on a great European adventure with her boyfriend and two best friends. Their destination is Barcelona, but first they must detour through the historic cities of Eastern Europe to keep an old family promise. Here, in this fledgling post-Communist world, Chloe meets a charming American vagabond named Johnny, who carries a guitar, an easy smile--and a lifetime of secrets. From Treblinka to Trieste, from Karnikava to Krakow, from Vilnius to Venice, the unlikely band of friends and lovers traverse the old world on a train trip that becomes a treacherous journey into Europe's and Johnny's darkest past--a journey that jeopardizes Chloe's plans for the future and all she ever thought she wanted. But the lifelong bonds Chloe and her friends share are about to be put to the ultimate test--and whether or not they reach Barcelona, they can only be certain that their lives will never be the same again. A sweeping, beautiful tale that mesmerizes and enchants, Lone Star will linger long in the memory once the final page is turned"-- "Chloe is weeks away from starting a new life far away from home when she embarks on a great European adventure with her boyfriend and two best friends. Their destination is Barcelona, but first they must detour through the historic cities of Eastern Europe to keep an old family promise. Buried in the treasures of the fledgling post-Communist world, Chloe finds a charming American vagabond named Johnny, who carries a guitar, an easy smile - and a lifetime of secrets. As the unlikely band traverse the old world, a train trip becomes a treacherous journey into Europe's and Johnny's darkest past - a journey that shatters Chloe's future plans and puts in jeopardy everything she thought she wanted. From Treblinka to Trieste, from Karnikava to Krakow, from Vilnius to Venice, the lovers and friends fight and love and break each other's hearts. They crack the fac̦ade that sustains their lifelong bonds to expose their truest, deepest desires. As they travel the marshes and mountains of the European continent, Chloe and her friends discover only one thing that's certain: whether or not they reach Barcelona, their lives will never be the same"--