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Shell Game: One Family's Long Battle Against Big Oil
 
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Shell Game: One Family's Long Battle Against Big Oil [Hardcover]

Michael Veron (Author)
5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (1 customer review)


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Book Description

April 1, 2007
Shell Oil was accustomed to getting its way in Louisiana. With deep pockets, teams of attorneys, and influential lobbyists in the state legislature, the second-largest oil company in the world could demand--and get--essentially anything it wanted. Until it met Michael Veron and his family.

Shell Game is the dramatic, fast-paced true account of a nine-year battle pitting a Louisiana family of modest means against Shell in an effort to clean up decades of pollution on the family’s property. Bullied, intimidated, and dubbed “the Beverly Hillbillies” by Shell’s highly paid attorneys, author Michael Veron’s relatives refused to buckle—and continued their fight against tremendous odds.

A small-town lawyer, Veron led the fight against Shell. His first-person account of the struggle is gripping, tense, and ultimately uplifting. It is a story of greed and great passion and of one family’s refusal to back down in the face of unrelenting pressure. Shell Game is the story of how one family not only righted a wrong, but also changed the way oil companies operate.


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Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

Legal narratives pitting the hero against a malicious corporation are not in short supply, but trial lawyer Veron adds an environmental twist as he describes nine years fighting Shell Oil over decades of pollution on his family's Louisiana farm. By 1991, after his family had made a comfortable income for 62 years off the royalties from the discovery of oil on his great-grandfather's property, the land was covered with discarded equipment and poisoned with chemicals and buried toxic waste. Spurred by a cousin who wondered why the company wasn't vacating the property and cleaning it up as required by the lease, Veron spent more than a year trying to persuade Shell to fulfill its contract and pay damages, before he filed suit. Veron delivers a blow-by-blow account of the trial, quoting testimony liberally, often stepping back to discuss his and his opponent's tactics and to explain the law. An accomplished novelist (The Caddie), Veron uses his considerable skill to portray Shell's lawyers (incompetent), the judge (inexperienced and hostile) and witnesses (his are devastating). Readers won't be surprised that he wins a huge settlement. Less biased accounts such as A Civil Action tell a more realistic and equally fascinating story, but this simpler good-versus-evil tale is a cracking good read. (Apr.)
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Review

Praise for THE GREATEST PLAYER WHO NEVER LIVED
 
Los Angeles Times
"...A GRIPPING READ..." --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

Mike Snider, USA Today
"...[Veron is] a master of fiction...a tale that mixes crime, mystery, and courtroom drama..." --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

Dan Raley, Seattle Post-Intelligencer
"It is dual parts John Grisham and John Feinstein, a legal mystery with a golf backbone...this book is a keeper." --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

“J. Michael Veron’s first novel is golf’s literary rookie of the year.”
— Dave Anderson, New York Times

"Talk about a well struck first shot. Michael Veron hits a literary hole-in-one…a tale that mixes crime, mystery, and courtroom drama."
USA Today

"Solid as a shot that nestles up to the cup from a 3-wood distance...a golf whodunit, southern style."
—-Pat Sullivan, San Francisco Chronicle

“A page-turning mix of golf history and mystery, almost as if John Grisham played 18 holes with Bagger Vance and decided to write about their day together.”
—-San Diego Union-Tribune

Product Details

  • Hardcover: 272 pages
  • Publisher: The Lyons Press; 1 edition (April 1, 2007)
  • Language: English
  • ISBN-10: 1599210339
  • ISBN-13: 978-1599210339
  • Product Dimensions: 9.1 x 6.3 x 1.4 inches
  • Shipping Weight: 1.3 pounds
  • Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (1 customer review)
  • Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,095,567 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Average Customer Review
5.0 out of 5 stars (1 customer review)
 
 
 
 
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1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars AMAZING STORY!!! A MUST READ!, August 2, 2007
By 
A. Imber (Houston, TX, USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   
This review is from: Shell Game: One Family's Long Battle Against Big Oil (Hardcover)
This was a fascinating book! I read it in one day because I could not put it down! This book, based on a true story, would make a great movie because you could not make up a story this good. This is a great glimpse into the power of big corporations, unethical lawyers at their disposal and perhaps even then judge! There are probably many more stories like this because families don't have the means to fight a 9 year legal battle against a major oil corporation. Thank goodness for this book because this needs to be made public! If you only read one book this year, you should read this one.
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