The Long Emergency | 
| Author: James Howard Kunstler
Publisher: Atlantic Books
Category: Book
Buy Used: $10.89
Used (5) from $10.89
Avg. Customer Rating:  205 reviews
Sales Rank: 3033179
Format: Import
Media: Paperback
Edition: New Ed
Pages: 320
Shipping Weight (lbs): 0.7
Dimensions (in): 7.6 x 5 x 0.9
ISBN: 1843544547
EAN: 9781843544548
ASIN: 1843544547
Publication Date: August 31, 2006
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Book Description
With his classics of social commentary The Geography of Nowhere and Home from Nowhere, James Howard Kunstler has established himself as one of the great commentators on American space and place. Now, with The Long Emergency, he offers a shocking vision of a post-oil future. As a result of artificially cheap fossil-fuel energy, we have developed global models of industry, commerce, food production, and finance over the last 200 years. But the oil age, which peaked in 1970, is at an end. The depletion of nonrenewable fossil fuels is about to radically change life as we know it, and much sooner than we think. The Long Emergency tells us just what to expect after the honeymoon of affordable energy is over, preparing us for economic, political, and social changes of an unimaginable scale. Riveting and authoritative, The Long Emergency is a devastating indictment that brings new urgency and accessibility to the critical issues that will shape our future, and that we can no longer afford to ignore. It is bound to become a classic of social science.
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| Customer Reviews: Read 200 more reviews...
 A Must Read! July 22, 2008
Kuntsler's got it right regarding the challanges we face in the not too distant future. His wit and sarcasm combined with a clear writing style make this work a most enjoyable read.
Kuntsler also presents his case cogently in a video entitled The End of Suburbia. I have been influenced by his work, and have actually made lifestyle changes ranging from the use of compact florescent lightbulbs to an investment in a sustainable living community to help me to cope with the coming difficulties that Kuntsler predicts.
There is one point that I would like to add. I see a ray of hopefulness in recent advances in lithium ion battery technology, that will allow the production of electric cars that are actually usable. Theses advances had not been achieved prior to the writing of this book, and therefore are not included in Kuntsler's vision of The Long Emergency. Thank you James Kuntsler for making us aware of the implications of the unsustainable lifestyle arrangements we have created.
Time is running short for the long emergency... July 17, 2008
This was the second Peak Oil book that I had the pleasure of reading and I wish it was the first. By and large, I would classify this text as a classic. Kunstler's begins his treatment of this topic by viewing the current socioeconomic climate as filled by a populace blinded by certain assumptions that make the coming (or present) oil crisis all the more severe. He then goes on to treat the rise of our modern industrial civilization and its roots in cheap energy (oil) and how the geopolitical nature of oil has shaped international trade and events.
As in other texts on the subject, Kunstler examines the potential alternatives to oil, and how even if combined, the most they are likely to do is soften the fall. Unlike other books however, there is an extensive treatment of the environmental component of the dilemma that other books fail to address. Kunstler wraps up the Long Emergency by forecasting Peak Oil's effects on the economy and what living in the "long emergency" may indeed be like.
Across the board, I enjoyed Kunstler's writing style and presentation. His voice adds to the rising tide of those that herald the awareness of Peak Oil. Like Heinberg, his writing rises to the top and demands the attention that few can or deserve. This is an essential book that is strangely, given the subject nature, enjoyable to read.
For more Peak Oil reviews: http://www.peakoilresources.com
A Dire and Stark Warning for the Whole World July 16, 2008
Whew boy! After catching Kunstler on the radio, I bought his book, and read it with great fascination and mounting alarm. As a scenario for disaster, this book should please fans of fiction writers like J.G. Ballard. Only it is not fiction - Kunstler predicts the coming collapse of all human civilization, and he provides dark, witty descriptions of how this will come to pass. He makes a strong, compelling case, and I found myself fervently hoping that he is completely wrong. But we ignore this kind of prediction at great peril. For too long people have complacently accepted the status quo without looking to the future, and the leaders of American business and government are among the greatest offenders.
Kunstler sees a coming collapse and severe contraction of the world economy. When the cheap oil begins to run out, our severely overpopulated world and its global consumer economy will begun to fall apart. Violence, disease, and much lower standards of living are coming to the world's strongest countries, and the developing world will never develop. We will all be taking giant steps backward, and there is no cure, no new technology that will bail us out. Already (in 2008), much of what Kunstler predicts here appears to be taking shape.
As a polemicist and writer, Kunstler is very impressive. He is a good phrasemaker and possesses a sharp, dry wit. However, he is not a first-rate scholar. There are hardly any footnotes and references, and no bibliography. He makes broad predictions without referring to anything that buttresses his views, no political or sociological or scientific or historical studies of any kind. He dismisses all alternative energy technologies, yet he is not a specialist in this area. He offers little in the way of solutions, and instead sketches out a series of inevitable disasters that lurk in the near future. He also presents a brief history of the USA in relation to oil consumption that can no doubt stimulate some discussion. He basically sees the rise of the USA, improvements in world agriculture, and all the technological advances of recent decades as being completely dependent on cheap oil.
It is important to remember that this is a man who dislikes contemporary American civilization and may, in fact, look forward with relish to its collapse. His region by region description of the USA lurching painfully backward towards the 1800s would be amusing if it were not so disturbing. He may be right that American suburbia is the greatest misallocation of resources in history, but his blatant hatred of it may also color his views a little. He certainly possesses the biases of many liberals of his generation, such as viewing the American Southeast as a land of ignorance and stupidity, despising big box stores, and disliking big business in general - but that does not automatically mean he is wrong.
I would recommend this book, but I would also recommend reading it critically and taking into account the views of other writers on the subject. It is now unquestionable that action needs to be taken on his central issue - the dependence of American civilization on imported oil. Personally, I look forward to exploring more of Kunstler's works. His views are pretty extreme, but they make for very interesting reading, and his sharp, cogent writing makes them easier to digest.
 Doomsday - but is it for real? June 29, 2008
2 out of 2 found this review helpful
Having read the book in 2008, and knowing that Mr. Kunstler wrote it 4 years earlier, the writer is very astute in correctly forecasting the sub-prime/debt crises and the oil price increases.
He does a credible job of explaining why oil may not be there for all time. Unfortunately, his treatment of the alternative fuel and new technologies is rather brief and he seems to dismiss any solution, as it would interfere with his relished doomsday scenario.
Kunstler brings up valid points, but his suggested outcome (a return to a version of an 18th century rural lifestyle) is rather far fetched and does not do justice to mankind's creativity and tenacity in addressing the real energy challenges we are faced with.
Interresting facts and opinions brought up June 29, 2008
The book was interesting and informative. There were a lot of facts, ideas and concepts brought up that made it very worthwhile to read.
As would be expected, there were a few points where I disagreed with the author, but that is to be expected in any controversial book.
I highly recommend it.
Jerry Minchey
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