i like reading true life stories..but enjoy fiction as well...in fact ill read the sauce bottle...
i like reading true life stories..but enjoy fiction as well...in fact ill read the sauce bottle...
I'm just coming to the end of The Baron in the Trees by Italo Calvino. My continued interest in her literary heritage pleases my half-Italian girlfriend. The trouble is, now that I'm nearly at the end of it, she's started leaving copies of Dante in prominent positions around the house in an effort to get me to read that next!
For high-quality Modern First Editions and a professional service visit:
http://uk.three.ebid.net/perl/main.c...arch&type=user
I've just started Brotherhood of the Wolf by David Farland (aka Dave Wolverton).
I've just re-read the first in the series The Sum of All Men.
At the moment I cannot decide if it's a series to keep or one to read then sell.
Gothicina.
MAHATMA GANDHI - "The greatness of a nation and its moral progress can be judged by the way in which its animals are treated."
My Stores
Gothicina Labels | Gothicina's Web - for eBid Auction Templates & Store Banners.
My Alter egos
Kewtonia Books | Kewtonia's Klutter | Kewtonia Magz
Family
Leadhillsonline | Honehe
Tozcentral | NiffNaff
SynysterChambers | Goldenboys13
Free eBid Banners | Free YDC Teddies | Charity Listings YDC Teddy Templates
I'm reading "Mad Cows and Mother's Milk" the Perils of Poor Risk Communication, by William Leiss and Douglas Powell.
Yeah, I know, I'm sad reading a book like that for fun, but it's really interesting, honest. It's about how corporations and governments have managed to make situations and incidents several magnitudes worse than they really are because of poor risk communication to the public - who then never trust them again, because the information vacuum created by the lack of official information is filled by special interest groups and others with an agenda. This then causes a backlash from the public completely out of proportion to any risk they have actually been exposed to.
The BSE crisis is one case, where the insistence of the government that there was no risk at all to people for so many years, flying in the face of the facts available caused a HUGE amount of damage when they were forced to admit there was a tiny chance that BSE could pass to people through eating beef. The risk was actually vanishingly tiny that any given person would get it, but after denial for so long, the public and the rest of the world didn't believe a word they said, special interest groups and scientists trying to draw attention to themselves bandied a scenario about where huge numbers of deaths would be caused, which caused the beef industry to completely crash and exports were stopped. Of course, none of this came to pass, and whilst the few deaths that there have been are regrettable, it hasn't been anything like the doomsday scenario that the organisations that filled the information vacuum were saying, and probably never would have been. It probably wouldn't have cost anything like as much to the industry or the reputation of the British government if they'd handled it properly in the first place instead of relying on total silence and a head in the sand approach.
The book also goes into the Dioxin scandals, the silicon implant scandal, and rBST plus other risk communications failures. It's a fascinating book, and an object lesson in how not to do things if you don't want to get into extreme trouble or cause panics.
Last edited by SalusLibrorum; 11th August 2008 at 09:09 PM.
I think that sounds interesting Hazel. Especially your description! I want to read one on Nudge Economics that's just come out - talks about how all these incidents and even how things are reported, actually shape our thinking and behaviour. And even changes our culture over time (lots of examples come to mind for that).
But right now I'm in the middle of re-decorating, so am doing my light reading - Addition, by Toni Jordan. About a woman with OCD who decides to try dating when she meets a guy who so interests her that she forgets to count the steps back to her home. It's actually quite funny as well as sweet. And interesting to me because of all the info. re OCD.
Yes, that sounds very similar - the media pick up on messages that the governments and corporations put out (or draw inferences from their silence), and magnify the more sensational aspects in order to sell more of their particular media. The public then react accordingly - often completely in the opposite direction to that indicated by common sense.
A friend has recommended "Cooking with Fernet Branca" - I'm not entirely sure it's my cup of tea, but am interested in trying it if I can pick up a cheap copy. Anybody want to list such a thing? Don't incur any fees in advance, just in case the price or condition aren't right, though. Luckily, this is possible here.
Just started Whispers in the Sand by Barbara Erskine, just 50 pages in and I'm sooo hooked. I've readed a couple of her others before and I just love her way of storytelling
There are currently 5 users browsing this thread. (0 members and 5 guests)