Amanda Little piece in New York Times

Amanda Little, author of our 2011-12 iRead selection Power Trip, recently wrote an op-ed piece for the New York Times about making every oil calorie count. Check it out and get a sense of her ideas before diving into the book!

2011-2012 iRead selection!

Vise Library is pleased to announce that the iRead* selection for 2011-2012 is Power Trip: The Story of America's Love Affair with Energy by Amanda Little The author will be on campus on September 27th!

Library staff members will be working over the summer on putting together additional programs related to the book. If you have any ideas or suggestions, we would love to hear from you! Email us at library@cumberland.edu.

Here is some information about the book: Amanda Griscom Little has been reporting and commenting on the changing environmental landscape for over a decade. From 2003-2007 she wrote “Muckraker,” the award-winning syndicated weekly column on energy and environmental policy for Salon.com and Grist.org. She is a contributing editor at Outside magazine, where she writes "Code Green," a monthly column on the people, products and ideas that are giving rise to the new green movement.

Her latest book, Power Trip, is a high-adventure romp through America's energy crisis, combining gonzo investigation with serious analysis of the history and future of energy. Amanda Little choppers out to a Gulf of Mexico oil rig to explore the latest extreme-drilling technology; crawls down a New York City manhole to examine the guts of the grid; joins T. Boone Pickens on his private jet for a tour of his wind-farm fantasy; talks fuel logistics with top brass in the catacombs of the Pentagon; and shares a play-by-play of a silicone breast implant (it is petroleum derived, after all). A fast read about a critical subject that will appeal even to readers of every age, political persuasion, and level of expertise.

In a starred review, Kirkus called it "one of the best books on the energy crisis to emerge in recent years." J.P. Morgan selected Power Trip for its annual reading list, and bought 1000 copies. Robert Redford calls Amanda Little "the best of a new young perspective, a new voice of green." Jim Rogers, Chairman and CEO of Duke Energy said of Power Trip: “It's hard to imagine a book about energy that would appeal as much to a business executive as it would to an eco-activist--or, for that matter, to a soccer mom, a farmer, a politician or a student. Here it is. This provocative story about America's love affair with energy is a must-read for everyone.”

* What is iRead anyway? Vise Library oversees a campus reading program known as iRead, designed to affirm the importance of reading and to create a common reading experience for the Cumberland University community. We hope to encourage interaction among students and faculty and to promote critical thinking by facilitating reading and discussion of topical books