Monday, June 10, 2013

J.H. Kunstler: Dmitry Orlov’s Excellent New Book

This essay is a review of Dmitry Orlov’s excellent new book, The Five Stages of Collapse. I can’t recommend the book highly enough. Orlov is one of the great literary stylists of his generation as well as one of the leading intellectuals. Read more...

7 comments:

g-minor said...

When I ordered the book from you months ago, I think I remember that you promised a signed copy. I ordered the book to support your work, not for your autograph. And perhaps, in my old age, I've invented the memory. If you never made such a promise, ignore this. If, as I believe, you did promise a signed copy, please just say, "Whoops, sorry, I forgot."

Thank you. And thanks for the book, both the writing and the shipping.

Dmitry Orlov said...

g-minor - please email me directly with the particulars and I'll look it up. The signed and unsigned orders went out in separate batches, with different database exports used to print the labels, but still, screw-ups do happen. I'd be happy to check it out.

k-dog said...

"Now the USA could go forth unopposed and turn the Black Sea into a lagoon of pure Coca Cola, bringing liberty, democracy, Chicken McNuggets, and Michael Jackson videos to the disadvantaged citizens of long-benighted lands yearning to “consume” freely."

GOTTALUVIT

Coke, nuggets and MJ. Cultural icons. The manifest superiority of neoliberal corporate capitalism.

But the "consumers" of the long-benighted lands were not really intended to have such exalted status.

They were more accurately destined to be "producers" to feed the needs of our jesus luvin land.

Game over and they don't get a prize.
But some have gardens and they'll get by.

K-Dog

peakaustria said...

Got the book yesterday...great dark humor reading! Glad that you mention Ugo Bardi and Korowicz Trade Off..in the intro...

kaimiddleton said...

Dmitry: I love your book, thank you very much for writing it for me and others.

There's a line from the movie "The Gladiator" (Russel Crow, et. al.) that I particularly liked, where Maximus (the gladiator) was facing the treacherous Commodus: Maximus: "I knew a man who once said, 'Death smiles at us all. All a man can do is smile back.'" Commodus: "I wonder, did your friend smile at his own death?" Maximus: "You must know. He was your father." In the case of this book I feel like you are able to, on the behalf of many of us, look at death squarely, perhaps not smiling, but at least with a measure of calm. It's really quite comforting.

Chaucer said...

I've got the book and am halfway through it.
Equadore is a case in point about the reaction of the gigantic institutions to the independent success of a small nation.
Here is Bill Black speaking on the subject.
http://fromalpha2omega.podomatic.com/entry/2013-06-22T02_33_39-07_00

Judy Barnes said...

This book is an excellent read.Got the book last year...great dark humor reading!
Kunstler Print