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Theodore Steinberg

American Green: The Obsessive Quest for the Perfect Lawn Hardcover – March 6, 2006

by Ted Steinberg (Author)

4.5 56 ratings

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Americans are locked in a love-hate relationship with their lawns, and Ted Steinberg tells you why.

The rise of the perfect lawn represents one of the most profound transformations in the history of the American landscape. Today the lawn is one of America's leading "crops," outstripping cotton in acres by a factor of two. American Green, Ted Steinberg's witty exposé of this sometimes bizarre phenomenon, traces the history of the lawn from its explosion in the postwar suburban community of Levittown—just miles from where Steinberg grew up—to the present love affair with turf colorants, leaf blowers, and riding mowers. For half a century, Americans have been on a quest for the greenest, weed-free, ultra-trim turf imaginable. But perfection has its costs. Blending muckraking journalism and social history, Steinberg looks at both the lighter and the darker side of the all-American landscape, from mower accidents and pesticide poisonings to lawn-mower racing and the man so addicted to perfection that he re-created Augusta's 12th hole in his backyard. 40 illustrations.

Print length

224 pages
Language

English
Publisher

W. W. Norton
Publication date

March 6, 2006
Dimensions

6.5 x 1.25 x 8.5 inches
ISBN-10

0393060845
ISBN-13

978-0393060843
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Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

Apartment-dwelling urbanites may be surprised to learn how significant lawn care is to the American economy, generating more than $10 billion in annual sales of pesticides, fertilizers and other products. Steinberg, an environmental historian, is aiming for the grassy equivalent of Fast Food Nation, with one key difference—while people know junk food isn't good for them, they may not be aware that most lawn care products are not only unnecessary but may actually harm soil and turf. He particularly damns the lawnmower industry, revealing how manufacturers "worked tirelessly to mislead the American public" for years in order to avoid the expense of installing safety features that could prevent severed fingers. Steinberg's subjects range from the postwar boom in suburban lawns to contemporary debates over noisy leaf blowers, and he mixes cultural history with personal lawn-related experiences in Long Island and Ohio, where some people maintain putting greens in their backyards. (Not surprisingly, Steinberg points out, golf courses are "the most intensively managed lawns in America.") There's plenty of muckraking outrage, but it's delivered in a friendly, engaging voice that might just win over skeptics. 40 illus. (Mar.)
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

From Booklist

Infinitely more interesting than watching grass grow, Steinberg's study of grass becomes a rueful and revealing commentary on America's nearly myopic devotion to acquiring and maintaining the perfect lawn. Forget your purple waves of grain; America's predominant landscape feature is a lush carpet of pristine green grass mowed so short it couldn't wave if it wanted to. Tracing the sociological roots of this horticultural phenomenon from the burgeoning post-World War II cookie-cutter suburbs with their postage-stamp lawns to today's manicured, multiacre estates, Steinberg illustrates how and why American home owners have elevated their fascination with this humble plant into an obsessive Grail-like quest. From mowers to blowers, weeds to water, crabgrass to bluegrass, Steinberg dishes the dirt on the products and practices that get results, not all of them in the home owner's--or the planet's--best interest. Balancing his sardonic, tongue-in-cheek wit with an investigative reporter's penchant for revelatory journalism, Steinberg offers an expose that is as entertaining as it is instructive. Carol Haggas
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved

Product details

Publisher ‏ : ‎ W. W. Norton; First Edition (March 6, 2006)
Language ‏ : ‎ English
Hardcover ‏ : ‎ 224 pages
ISBN-10 ‏ : ‎ 0393060845
ISBN-13 ‏ : ‎ 978-0393060843
Item Weight ‏ : ‎ 1.25 pounds
Dimensions ‏ : ‎ 6.5 x 1.25 x 8.5 inches

Best Sellers Rank: #1,078,617 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
- #140 in Lawn Gardening
- #53,090 in Social Sciences (Books)

Customer Reviews:
4.5 56 ratings

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Customer reviews

4.5 out of 5

56 global ratings

5 star		73%
4 star		11%
3 star		13%
2 star 0% (0%)		0%
1 star		3%

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Top reviews from the United States

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Gidget

Entertaining and informative

Reviewed in the United States 🇺🇸 on January 9, 2022

Verified Purchase

Ted Steinberg offers a very entertaining report on the origin and history behind American's obsession with lawns (as the title states). This book was suggested reading during a college course I took on Nature and Society. Decided to read it to learn more on the topic and so glad I did. I think this should be required reading for all young adults (although I'm much older than a young adult, I wish I would have had more of this knowledge when I was younger.) I do think the author could have gone into more depth in some areas, it seemed as though he was only scraping the surface of many consequences of The American Lawn. For example, he spent many pages driving home the danger of operating lawn care equipment, but only mentioned maybe once or twice the fact that millions of birds die each year as a result of fertilizer use on lawns, not to mention the myriad other ways those chemicals invade every aspect of our lives.

The printing of the book, unfortunately, was pretty terrible. The photos were not even discernable - printed in b&w, which is fine, but they are so grainy and lacking in contrast they mostly look like big gray boxes on the page. The poor quality of printing doesn't do this book justice.

One person found this helpful

Helpful

Gloria F. Green

Going lawnless is great!

Reviewed in the United States 🇺🇸 on July 20, 2009

Verified Purchase

Steinberg shows in his book that our obsession with lawns has done more harm than good. The constant cycle of seeding, mowing, etc. is so labor intensive, and really does nothing for the planet, but it feeds our human, suburban-driven egos.
It's a very readable book, full of historical notes, anecdotes, and points about how the grass is NOT always greener; in fact, the "green" thing to do now is put your lawn on a diet, by reducing it, and place other types of foliage that are more beneficial like moss, native plants, and clover. The idea of endless turfgrass has proven to be detrimental. This book is a great motivator to choose alternative ground covers.

3 people found this helpful

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Voit Roe

Fascinating

Reviewed in the United States 🇺🇸 on April 11, 2013

Verified Purchase

I was introduced to this book through an environmental history class I took in college. I am studying agroecology and sustainable agriculture, so I came into it with a base knowledge that may have been more than was expected by Steinberg as his target audience and still absolutely loved it. Great research about present conditions and a fascinating look at the past. I would definitely suggest it to anyone, especially people who grew up or presently live in the suburbs.

One person found this helpful

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J

America's history of monoculture maintenance

Reviewed in the United States 🇺🇸 on December 6, 2016

Verified Purchase

The book is interesting, mostly, with stories about how obsessed Americans are, and what lengths we'll go to, to maintain a patch of monoculture. If you know nothing about that history, it is a decent read. If you're already familiar with it, then it isn't all that appealing.

It really needs some editing/proofing though, as it is chock full of typographical errors.

2 people found this helpful

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Tx-Bill

Boring but highly informative.

Reviewed in the United States 🇺🇸 on June 3, 2011

Verified Purchase

This was required text for American History II. I cannot say the topic was one of my favorites, but this novel contained a good deal of American lawn care history and purpose. I knew a good deal about lawns before I read this book, but I am proud to say I more than doubled my lawn vocabulary and knowledge base with this.

Worth reading for informational and historical reasons. Product exactly as described, perfect condition.

2 people found this helpful

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scribe

Good Read

Reviewed in the United States 🇺🇸 on February 27, 2020

Verified Purchase

From an outside guy, this was a fun read.

Reviewed in the United States 🇺🇸 on August 8, 2007

Verified Purchase

This is one of the most entertaining and informative books I have read in years. Steinberg, a clearly gifted author, has taken a seemingly mundane topic and written something that has depth, is interesting, and very humorous. I thoroughly enjoyed his writing style. I will read it again in the future.

7 people found this helpful

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Beth A. Thonney

Five Stars

Reviewed in the United States 🇺🇸 on September 18, 2015

Verified Purchase

great read, thanks!

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American Green: The Obsessive Quest for the Perfect Lawn Hardcover – March 6, 2006

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