Getting A Grip: Clarity, Creativity, and Courage in a World Gone Mad [Paperback]

Frances Moore Lappe (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: October 1, 2007

Winner of the 2008 JAMES BEARD HUMANITARIAN AWARD, 2008 NAUTILUS SMALL PRESS GOLD AWARD and 2008 NAUTILUS SILVER AWARD in the category of Social Change/Activism

Getting a Grip: Clarity, Creativity & Courage in a World Gone Mad is a little book with a big message. Frances Moore Lappe--author of fifteen books, including three-million-copy bestseller Diet for a Small Planet--distills her world-spanning experience and wisdom in a conversational yet hard-hitting style to create a rare "aha" book. In nine short chapters, Lappe leaves readers feeling liberated and courageous. She flouts conventional right-versus-left divisions and affirms readers' basic sanity--their intuitive knowledge that it is possible to stop grasping at straws and grasp the real roots of today's crises, from hunger and poverty to climate change and terrorism. Because we are creatures of the mind, says Lappe, it is the power of "frame"--our core assumptions about how the world works--that determines outcomes. She pinpoints the dominant failing frame now driving out planet toward disaster. By interweaving fresh insights, startling facts, and stirring vignettes of ordinary people pursuing creative solutions to our most pressing global problems, Lappe uncovers a new, empowering "frame" through which real solutions are emerging worldwide.
She writes: "My book's intent is to enable us to see what is happening all around us but is still invisible to most of us. It is about people in all walks of life who are penetrating the spiral of despair and reversing it with new ideas, ingenious innovation--and courage."

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

This determinedly optimistic manifesto-cum-workbook by the author of Diet for a Small Planet begins with the question, Why are we as societies creating a world that we as individuals abhor? Lappé posits that U.S. culture is grounded in a worldview of scarcity, creating a society of competitive materialists who practice a Thin Democracy of electoral politics in a one rule market economy that returns wealth to wealth and leads to an ever-increasing concentration of power. Yet she believes there is no reason we can't create a values-guided, empowering democracy based on the premise of plenty, where individuals and communities take charge of public life and engage in active listening, conflict mediation, dialogue and judgment. Full of charts comparing Thin Democracy constructs with Living Democracy alternatives, and ending with a study guide for community Group Talk, the book includes numerous examples of people practicing Living Democracy, from Nobel Prize–winner Muhammad Yunus, instigator of the international microcredit movement, to School Mediation Associates, which teaches conflict resolution and peer mediations skills. Unfortunately, Lappé's coverage of many of these inspiring stories is unintelligibly thin, too often referring readers to her Web site for backup. (Oct. 31)
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

From Booklist

The indefatigable Lappe turns her finely tuned sense of outrage and her deeply honed sense of conviction to the unending and seemingly unmanageable problems confronting the world and focuses her clarion vision on solutions that may begin with just one person but that can end with an entire culture becoming more informed, more caring, more responsible. If we, as individuals, do not willingly choose to live defeated by poverty, debilitated by disease, demoralized by racism, she posits, then why should these abhorrent conditions not only exist but proliferate, especially in a democratic society? Displaying her usual laserlike logic, Lappe distills her arguments to their most basic level, a tactic that allows her crystalline assessments to virtually leap off the page. Parsing the notion of democracy, Lappe examines its successes and failures, offering creative and innovative methods for turning egregious areas of weakness into exhilarating beacons of strength. Progressing from confronting fear to seizing power, Lappe's treatise on humanity's potential for growth is a comforting source of inspiration. Haggas, Carol

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Product Details

• Paperback: 186 pages
• Publisher: Small Planet Media; First Edition edition (October 1, 2007)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0979414245
• ISBN-13: 978-0979414244
• Product Dimensions: 5.4 x 0.5 x 8.5 inches
• Shipping Weight: 8 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.7 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (18 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #849,548 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

27 of 29 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars Read this book and get revved up for a brighter future! September 23, 2007

By D. Burke

Format:Paperback

If you've been feeling weighed down, perplexed, and ready to throw up your hands in disgust with the pervasive mess that seems to be predominating our society, this book will be breath of fresh air! Ms. Lappe has honed right in on the fundamental problems that are feuling the mess... I swear, you will find yourself nodding and whispering an emphatic "Yes!" at many points during the first few chapters.

But beyond defining the underlying perception of powerlessness that have lead us to a "thin democracy" (based on a gross imbalance of wealth and power, creating a dogma of fear and neediness that turns the masses into disgruntled "shoppers", ever-more driven to "buy" security, safety, and happiness), Ms. Lappe also goes on to point out concrete models of true democracy at work today, and suggest simple ways in which "average citizens" can begin to re-establish a sense of empowerment in own lives, as well as those of their families, communities, and the country. The opportunities exist all around us, we just need to act on them. As she points out through numerous examples, by redirecting our thought processes, raising our voices, and redefining our goals and needs, we can use our God given intelligence, intuition, and compassion to develop equitible policies and build sustainable neighborhoods and communities that serve everyones needs.

For a relatively short book, it is amazing how packed full of relevant information it is... I came away from this book feeling armed with knowledge and a good measure of hope that we, the public, can reverse the the downward spiral our country has been in, and get things back on the right track. Thank you, Ms. Lappe!

18 of 21 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars delectable credo-meets-blueprint for reshaping society September 11, 2007

By Real Change Rose

Format:Paperback|Amazon Verified Purchase

Frances Moore Lappe's latest book, Getting a Grip: Clarity, Creativity and Courage in a World Gone Mad, takes a close look at how we've created our culture and how we can step back to reshape it. How do we create a more authentic and alive world that takes care of it's inhabitants?

Frances is an eco/political Rock Star, world changer, world traveler, long-time celebrated author of dozens of books (literally), and sprightly hot mama! The book is already getting glowing reviews as being revolutionary and insightful from places like O Magazine. It's message is timely, innovative and radical. Every morsel of this delectable credo-meets-blueprint is fluid and human yet scrupulously well thought out and honest. After all these years, Frances has finally written a book that condenses the most weighty and sensible points from her previous works, reshaping them into one cohesive lens for viewing our current situation.

Her message is hopeful but realistic. Not many books on democracy have such a high level of authenticity. Her ability to bypass the normal, worn-out political arguments is refreshing and out of the box. The time has come for the American people, and the citizens of the world, to take our lives and our governments into our own hands to create the world we want, in which we can all thrive together. A better world is possible, and Frances Moore Lappé is one of a handful of authors whose vision points the way.

10 of 11 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars Drawing clarity out of the mainstream cacaphony September 11, 2007

By E. J. Freed

Format:Paperback

"Getting a Grip" is another example of Francis Moore Lappe's steadfast attention on the strength of every day people and local communities, strengths that our mainstream media all too quickly ignores. Lappe has a knack for drawing out bright examples of hope, courage and positive action in a day when the United States' broken national political system shuns real citizen participation and global econonmic structures devalue the human being.

This book will remind you that your neighbors are good, strong, smart people, with whom you can work to build community and a stronger democracy. Read it for hope, revitalization and to remember your own power.