See buying choices for this item to see if it's one of the millions that are eligible for Amazon Prime.

19 used & new from $11.59

Have one to sell? Sell yours here
 
 
The Geography of Hope: A Tour of the World We Need
 
See larger image
 
Tell the Publisher!
I’d like to read this book on Kindle

Don’t have a Kindle? Get yours here.
 
  

The Geography of Hope: A Tour of the World We Need (Hardcover)

by Chris Turner (Author)
4.8 out of 5 stars See all reviews (6 customer reviews)


Available from these sellers.


8 new from $35.87 11 used from $11.59
Also Available in: List Price: Our Price: Other Offers:
Paperback $22.00 $22.00 14 used & new from $19.49

Customers Who Bought This Item Also Bought

The Ecology of Commerce: A Declaration of Sustainability

The Ecology of Commerce: A Declaration of Sustainability

by Paul Hawken
4.5 out of 5 stars (42)  $12.23
Hot, Flat, and Crowded: Why We Need a Green Revolution--and How It Can Renew America

Hot, Flat, and Crowded: Why We Need a Green Revolution--and How It Can Renew America

by Thomas L. Friedman
3.9 out of 5 stars (218)  $16.27
Natural Capitalism: Creating the Next Industrial Revolution

Natural Capitalism: Creating the Next Industrial Revolution

by Paul Hawken
4.4 out of 5 stars (87)  $5.22
The 11th Hour

The 11th Hour

DVD ~ Leonardo DiCaprio
4.3 out of 5 stars (68)  $4.99
Who Killed the Electric Car?

Who Killed the Electric Car?

DVD ~ Martin Sheen
4.6 out of 5 stars (314)  $8.49
Explore similar items

Editorial Reviews

Review
Praise for Chris Turner and Planet Simpson:

“One of this country’s smartest and most original pop-culture commentators.”
Hour (Montreal)

“[An] absolutely must-have tome for the many Simpsons freaks, not just an over-sized fan’s guide but an absorbing take on why it matters.”
Toronto Star

“Turner has written the definitive Simpsons study. He shows both a lightness of touch suitable to his subject and the intellectual rigour to grasp its vast purview.”
The Gazette (Montreal)

“[A] brilliant critique of western culture from the mid-90s to the present. . . . Turner understands pop culture in a way few others of his generation have been able to articulate thus far.”
The Record (Kitchener-Waterloo)

“Smart and funny, Turner is clearly one of the converted, and he writes with fitting enthusiasm for his subject while working in seemly references to cultural theory and TV-insider politics.”
The Hollywood Reporter

“One of the more fascinating and entertaining works I’ve read.”
The Globe and Mail

“A broad-minded analysis that connects the television show to some of the most pressing issues in contemporary life.”
Alberta Views

Product Description
After the fierce warnings and grim predictions of The Weather Makers and An Inconvenient Truth, acclaimed journalist and national bestselling author Chris Turner finds hope in the search for a sustainable future.

Point of no return: The chilling phrase has become the ubiquitous mantra of ecological doomsayers, a troubling headline above stories of melting permafrost and receding ice caps, visions of catastrophe and fears of a problem with no solution. Daring to step beyond the rhetoric of panic and despair, The Geography of Hope points to the bright light at the end of this very dark tunnel.

With a mix of front-line reporting, analysis and passionate argument, Chris Turner pieces together the glimmers of optimism amid the gloom and the solutions already at work around the world, from Canada’s largest wind farm to Asia’s greenest building and Europe’s most eco-friendly communities. But The Geography of Hope goes far beyond mere technology. Turner seeks out the next generation of political, economic, social and spiritual institutions that could provide the global foundations for a sustainable future–from the green hills of northern Thailand to the parliament houses of Scandinavia, from the villages of southern India, where microcredit finance has remade the social fabric, to America’s most forward-thinking think tanks.

In this compelling first-person exploration, punctuated by the wonder and angst of a writer discovering the world’s beacons of possibility, Chris Turner pieces together a dazzling map of the disparate landmarks in a geography of hope.



While most of the world has been spinning in stagnant circles of recrimination and debate on the subject of climate change, paralyzed by visions of apocalypse both natural (if nothing of our way of life changes) and economic (if too much does), Denmark has simply marched off with steadfast resolve into the sustainable future, reaching the zenith of its pioneering trek on the island of Samsø. And so if there’s an encircled star on this patchwork map indicating hope’s modest capital, then it should be properly placed on this island. Perhaps, for the sake of precision, at the geographic centre of Jørgen Tranberg’s dairy farm.

There are, I’m sure, any number of images called to mind by talk of ecological revolution and renewable energy and sustainable living, but I’m pretty certain they don’t generally include a hearty fiftysomething Dane in rubber boots spotted with mud and cow shit. Which is why Samsø’s transformation is not just revolutionary but inspiring, not just a huge change but a tantalizingly attainable one. And it was a change that seemed at its most workaday–near-effortless, no more remarkable than the cool October wind gusting across the island–down on Tranberg’s farm.
from The Geography of Hope

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

  • Hardcover: 480 pages
  • Publisher: Random House Canada (October 5, 2007)
  • Language: English
  • ISBN-10: 0679314652
  • ISBN-13: 978-0679314653
  • Product Dimensions: 9.4 x 6.2 x 1.4 inches
  • Shipping Weight: 1.8 pounds
  • Average Customer Review: 4.8 out of 5 stars See all reviews (6 customer reviews)
  • Amazon.com Sales Rank: #1,186,662 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

What Do Customers Ultimately Buy After Viewing This Item?

The Geography of Hope: A Tour of the World We Need
92% buy the item featured on this page:
The Geography of Hope: A Tour of the World We Need 4.8 out of 5 stars (6)
The Geography of Bliss: One Grump's Search for the Happiest Places in the World
8% buy
The Geography of Bliss: One Grump's Search for the Happiest Places in the World 4.3 out of 5 stars (116)
$10.97

Tags Customers Associate with This Product

 (What's this?)
Click on a tag to find related items, discussions, and people.
Check the boxes next to the tags you consider relevant or enter your own tags in the field below.
(2)

Your tags: Add your first tag
 
Help others find this product — tag it for Amazon search
No one has tagged this product for Amazon search yet. Why not be the first to suggest a search for which it should appear?

Sell a Digital Version of This Book in the Kindle Store

If you are a publisher or author and hold the digital rights to a book, you can sell a digital version of it in our Kindle Store. Learn more

 

Customer Reviews

6 Reviews
5 star:
 (5)
4 star:
 (1)
3 star:    (0)
2 star:    (0)
1 star:    (0)
 
 
 
 
 
Average Customer Review
4.8 out of 5 stars (6 customer reviews)
 
 
 
 
Share your thoughts with other customers:
Most Helpful Customer Reviews

 
3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars What would Homer do?, December 27, 2007
By Ken Kardash (Montreal, Canada) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   
I have no background in environmentalism or connection to the author. As a general reader I thoroughly enjoyed this book and found it informative, inspiring and entertaining in equal parts. An unequivocal five stars!
The author is a journalist and disillusioned environmental activist. He is also a new father, and, concerned for his daughter's future, decided to do a global survey of existing, practical methods of achieving environmental sustainability. His perspective is what makes this book so refreshing: tired of the mainstream environmental movement's two main weapons of guilt and apocalyptic predictions, he searches for not just the means but the inspiration to change the way the world's resources are used. I found this practical, hopeful approach much more compelling than the doom-and-gloom, armchair analyst approach of, say, George Monbiot's Heat.
Potential readers should keep in mind that the author's previous opus was Planet Simpson, an exploration of the cultural significance of an animated cartoon series. This is a mixed blessing. On the one hand, it informs his writing with a pop-culture sensibility that makes for entertaining asides and a contemporary grasp of how cultural fashions evolve. On the other hand, the one time I felt we may be getting a little too much information was in the final chapter. There he describes how the epiphany of embracing environmental sustainability occurred to him at a Seattle Lebowski Fest, a cult-like celebration of a movie that he admits to "only begin to understand after the fifth viewing". Presumably fatherhood changed his priorities, and rather than strain his credibility, I found this geeky anecdote disarming. A Greenpeace diatribe this is not.
Comment Comment | Permalink | Was this review helpful to you? Yes No (Report this)



 
1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars At last, an environmental book that doesn't make me despair, April 5, 2008
By Gordon Neufeld (Calgary, Alberta) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   
The trouble with the majority of writing about climate change and other environmental worries is that they make people think, "Oh, hell. It's too late anyway. Why even try to do anything?" The Geography of Hope is an antidote to this kind of thinking. I am now 54 years old, and when I was 20 years old or so, I devoured ecological jeremiads such as Rachel Carson's Silent Spring. The trouble is, back then I actually thought my civilization was doomed to fall apart before the end of the 20th century. This, fortunately, didn't happen and in the meantime I got sidelined by matters too complex to detail here. Now at last I am returning to my environmental roots, but I find I simply no longer have the patience and strength to wade through dour predictions of ecological gloom and doom. Chris Turner's The Geography of Hope is the first book on this topic that I have felt glad to pick up, because it shows that it is really possible to put the brakes to the looming climate train wreck before it occurs and that sustainability is already within our grasp using existing technology, if only we would commit to it. How inspiring!
Comment Comment | Permalink | Was this review helpful to you? Yes No (Report this)



 
3 of 4 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars What exists NOW that can be building blocks for a truly sustainable world?, January 2, 2008
By Christopher E. Greacen (Bangkok, Thailand) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   
Chris Turner takes a year-long tour around the world, visiting places that are implementing solutions for sustainable living. A zero-net energy island in Denmark. Community Supported Agriculture in the southern USA. Plug-in hybrid cars. Earthship homes in New Mexico. Radical improvements in waste recycling in various industries. Examples of New Urbanism in city planning and architecture in Florida, the UK, Denmark, Colorado. Mass transit and city policy in Portland. Finhorn in the UK and Tibetan refugee communities in India -- for agriculture and community and deliberate living. A micro-hydro installation in a remote village on the Burma/Thai border built by local villagers, folks from a nearby refugee camp students, and local NGOs. He looks at questions like "what kinds of planning and structures inspire community?" "What exists NOW that can be building blocks for a truly sustainable world?" Inspiring and casual at the same time.
Comment Comment | Permalink | Was this review helpful to you? Yes No (Report this)


Share your thoughts with other customers: Create your own review
 
 
 
Most Recent Customer Reviews

4.0 out of 5 stars Visiting All Change Agents
Turner turns his back on his environmental-protest Greenpeace-volunteering past, and goes searching, somewhat frantically, for those who are actually building a sustainable... Read more
Published 5 months ago by Brian Griffith

5.0 out of 5 stars Positive and encouraging
When I read this book, I was very glad to see that there are solutions to the problems we face and that there is hope that our quality of life can become much better than it is... Read more
Published 9 months ago by Jonathan Davies

5.0 out of 5 stars Inspiring
If anyone is feeling that the world is coming to an end because of human folly...then you must read "The Geography Of Hope"Here you will meet individuals all over the world who... Read more
Published 17 months ago by Kate Ashby-Craft

Only search this product's reviews



Customer Discussions

 Beta (What's this?)
New! See all customer communities, and bookmark your communities to keep track of them.
This product's forum (0 discussions)
  Discussion Replies Latest Post
  No discussions yet

Ask questions, Share opinions, Gain insight
Start a new discussion
Topic:
First post:
Prompts for sign-in
  [Cancel]


   


Product Information from the Amapedia Community

Beta (What's this?)



Look for Similar Items by Category


Avon: Free Shipping

Avon Mark Just Pinched Instant Blush Tint
Get free shipping on all Avon orders of $25 or more. Shop Avon's award-winning makeup, skin care, bath & body items, and more.

Shop Avon now

 

Best Books of 2008

Best of 2008
Find our top 100 editors' picks as well as customers' favorites in dozens of categories in our Best Books of 2008 Store.
 

Buy Three Books, Get a Fourth Free

4-for-3 Books
Order any four eligible books under $10 and get the lowest-price book free in our 4-for-3 Books Store. See more details.
 

Best Books

Best of the Month
See our editors' picks and more of the best new books on our Best of the Month page.
 

 

Feedback

If you need help or have a question for Customer Service, contact us.
 Would you like to update product info or give feedback on images?
Is there any other feedback you would like to provide?

Your comments can help make our site better for everyone.



Where's My Stuff?

Shipping & Returns

Need Help?

Your Recent History

  (What's this?)
You have no recently viewed items or searches.

After viewing product detail pages or search results, look here to find an easy way to navigate back to pages you are interested in.

Look to the right column to find helpful suggestions for your shopping session.

Continue shopping: Top Sellers
Paranoia
Paranoia by Joseph Finder
Glenn Beck's Common Sense
Finger Lickin' Fifteen
Finger Lickin' Fifteen by Janet Evanovich
My Soul to Lose
My Soul to Lose by Rachel Vincent
$0.00

Conditions of Use | Privacy Notice © 1996-2009, Amazon.com, Inc. or its affiliates