Buying Options

Learn more

Read for Free

OR

Kindle Price: $2.99

Promotions apply when you purchase

Deliver to your Kindle or other device

Enter a promotion code or Gift Card

Share <Embed>

Crude Awakening: Chevron in Ecuador (Kindle Single) by [Michael D. Goldhaber]

Follow the Author

Michael D. Goldhaber

Crude Awakening: Chevron in Ecuador (Kindle Single) Kindle Edition

by Michael D. Goldhaber (Author) Format: Kindle Edition

37 ratings

See all formats and editions Hide other formats and editions

Price

New from

Used from

Kindle

"Please retry"

$2.99

—

Kindle
$0.00 Read with Kindle Unlimited to also enjoy access to over 1 million more titles $2.99 to buy

A behind-the-scenes look at the world’s biggest and most tangled legal case.

On their way to winning a $19 billion verdict against Chevron in Ecuador, lawyers for the Amazonian plaintiffs invite a documentary film crew to record their every move. Unfortunately, their every move includes fraud. Chevron subpoenas the outtakes, and follows the clues from one improbable fraud to another. In time, the oil company turns the tables, and sues the plaintiffs for racketeering. The drama culminates in a classic New York “counter-trial,” where it’s the testimony of one corrupt ex-judge against another.

A detective story and courtroom drama, with an epilogue of keen commentary, Crude Awakening is the definitive account of Chevron’s struggle to prove that the truth is the truth—even when the truth is on the side of the big bad oil company, and not on the side of the charismatic little guy fighting for the indigenous people of the Amazon rain forest. Crude Awakening will captivate both students of law and students of human nature.

About the Author

Michael D. Goldhaber is “The Global Lawyer” columnist for The American Lawyer, and senior international correspondent for American Lawyer Media. He is a graduate of Harvard College, Columbia Journalism School, and Yale Law School. His previous book, A People’s History of the European Court of Human Rights, tells the story of landmark European cases from the perspective of heroic human rights plaintiffs.

All author royalties will be donated to indigenous causes in Ecuador.

Length: 85 pages	Word Wise: Enabled	Enhanced Typesetting: Enabled
Page Flip: Enabled

Customers who bought this item also bought

Page 1 of 1 Start overPage 1 of 1

This shopping feature will continue to load items when the Enter key is pressed. In order to navigate out of this carousel please use your heading shortcut key to navigate to the next or previous heading.

Paul M. Barrett

122

Kindle Edition
$7.49

Amazon Business : For business-only pricing, quantity discounts and FREE Shipping. Register a free business account

Editorial Reviews

Review

"[A] rip-roaring new ebook.... Goldhaber writes breezily and fluently as he guides us through this sorry tale.... Shocking, appalling, and hugely entertaining, it is a salutary read for anyone with the remotest interest in the issues." -Financial Times

"[A] superb feat of legal journalism.... If you're interested in legal ethics [or] the perils of litigating in undeveloped countries, you must read this." -Forbes

"[I]n 2011 the Ecuadorean judge... handed down a massive judgment.... Here 'Crude Awakening,' an e-book by Michael Goldhaber of the American Lawyer, takes over. He embeds his readers with Chevron's sleuths as they research the plaintiffs' case [u]sing copied hard drives, turncoat witnesses, bank records and scenes cut from 'Crude.'" -The Economist

"How to sort it all out?... Michael Goldhaber--a very smart international lawyer and Am Law writer--provides excellent and condensed insight into the story in a new online Amazon Kindle book for only $2.99.... Crude Awakening is great reading for anyone involved with mass torts.... Read the book--it's an easy read--the writing is intelligent and crisp, and distills out key elements from a massive story that deserves more attention." -GlobalTort

"Goldhaber is a terrific, witty writer.... [He] was in the courtroom during the trial, and it shows. But the best part of his book deals with what happened outside the courtroom, behind the scenes on the Chevron litigation team.... [It] will be eye-opening for the general reader." -Letters Blogatory

"Crude Awakening deserves the attention of lawyers, legal scholars, and anyone interested in human-rights litigation." -Businessweek

Product details

File Size: 3377 KB
Print Length: 85 pages
Simultaneous Device Usage: Unlimited
Publisher: RosettaBooks (August 20, 2014)
Publication Date: August 20, 2014
Sold by: Amazon.com Services LLC
Language: English
ASIN: B00MR1SKWA
Text-to-Speech: Enabled
X-Ray:

Not Enabled
Word Wise: Enabled
Lending: Enabled
Screen Reader: Supported
Enhanced Typesetting: Enabled
Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #904,666 Paid in Kindle Store (See Top 100 Paid in Kindle Store)
- #98 in Kindle Singles: History
- #195 in Media & the Law
- #119 in Law Media & the Law

Would you like to tell us about a lower price?

Customer reviews

5 star		67%
4 star		15%
3 star 0% (0%)		0%
2 star		9%
1 star		9%

How does Amazon calculate star ratings?

There was a problem filtering reviews right now. Please try again later.

Amazon Customer

Whats worse is if he had been a competent attorney there ...

Reviewed in the United States on April 8, 2015

Verified Purchase

Very fast read. Every aspiring attorney should have this as mandatory reading. Goldhaber takes a deliberative but engaging approach to dissecting the case that came before Kaplan. I came into this case with no bias or preconceived notions. But after having read up on this matter through to many sources to list, this book is for any layman the definitive condensed version to date what has transpired. No rational person can come away without a profound since of sadness for the indigenous people of Ecuador who were clearly have been ill served by everyone and most especially their own government and countrymen. Donziger though takes a special seat at the table for being a charlatan more interested in his own sense of entitlement and moral superiority then in serving the very people he was entrusted as clients. Whats worse is if he had been a competent attorney there was a good case to be made and instead his own dreams of grandeur exposes him to be no better then a monkey with a gun.

One person found this helpful

Helpful

Comment

J Spira-Savett

Great Writing Brings a Legal Story to Life

Reviewed in the United States on January 2, 2019

Verified Purchase

Perfectly paced story of this important set of legal cases. Goldhaber knows how to structure, to guide, to pause, to give each person his or her due and still interpret the cases and investigations as they unfold. He does a nice job weaving together legal issues, ethics, mystery and a flavor for how law is actually done. He clearly lets the facts of the story guide his interpretation rather than coming in with a preconceived notion of good guys and bad guys. A worthwhile read for this new age of international business and law.

Helpful

Comment

Michael S Pilo

WOW

Reviewed in the United States on March 1, 2019

Verified Purchase

Oh my god! this was an amazing book! i can't belive how much damege has been done to the environment because of oil! highly recomended thanks for yhe awesome read, uncle michael! michael grosberg,lol

One person found this helpful

Helpful

Comment

Traveler

Truth

Reviewed in the United States on October 19, 2014

Verified Purchase

Sad to see so many people immediately make judgements based on who is on each side, without bothering to learn the truth behind the issue. The amount of evidence proving overwhelming fraud cannot be ignored in this case. The greed of Donziger to win at any cost oozes through the fabricated lies he spins. It's a pity that he has ruined this case, and the people he represents are no better off. The fact that PetroEcuador is ignored as a contributor, while being the sole operator for nearly 25 years, with a horrific legacy of environmental damages, confirms this was all about who has deep pockets and might be willing to settle if a negative PR campaign was waged. Kudos to Chevron for not giving in to corrupt tactics. Shame on Donziger and his team.

2 people found this helpful

Helpful

Comment

MadManMoo

Tragic and farcical tale. Overall, a solid read.

Reviewed in the United States on September 9, 2014

Verified Purchase

This is a REAL E-Book. It's the length of a decent novella, not a weak preview or rip-off. (The last couple of E-books I ordered were jokes, using enormous text to just barely push them into the 20 page range.)

The characters seem too colorful to be real (the expert who read 236,000 pages of the trial record, the prosecutor "from the most Prussian of Cuban families", the "Nancy Drew" expert who somehow spotted the fraud, and of course the Angry Bird in the courtroom . . .) The plot twists also seem too dependent on greed and/or self-righteous recklessness to have not originated in a writer's imagination. However, they are all real, and they allow Goldhaber to entertainingly relate what would otherwise be a dry and thoroughly depressing tale.

At the end, the author puts it all in perspective. Assuming the verdict stands, the tale is indeed tragic. An idealistic man was driven to fight for voiceless, exploited victims but was blind to the risk that his recklessness (and ineptitude?) would jeopardize the justice they deserved. If the story had been told by a corporate shill, it wouldn't have the resonance it does. However, the author has a solid pedigree supporting third world human rights. Given his other book, my guess is he was rooting for the plaintiffs at the start. When the author eviscerates Donziger, it's hard not to sense an underlying anger that Donziger sloppily squandered the indigenous peoples' chance of recovery.

The movie will be amazing. I suggest Kevin Spacey as the lead.

(We don't learn until nearly 80% into the book that the author was in the jurors' box (reserved for press) during the trial. Apparently, his employer had even subpoenaed some of the records that weren't publicly disclosed.)

3 people found this helpful

Helpful

Comment

Chris Kumpf

Great read

Reviewed in the United States on May 16, 2017

Verified Purchase

I'm not usually one for legal books, but this one caught my attention and held it. To think that the persons involved with this sham of a proceeding in Ecuador could feel good about what they did is terrible. An example of the ends justifying the means and the facts be damned.

Helpful

Comment

gorgee

"MUDDY THE WATER"

Reviewed in the United States on September 22, 2014

Verified Purchase

A great story, I really enjoyed it,

Just goes to show how the water can be muddied (and I don't mean environmental pollution) by 'legal eagles'
Who are the bad guys in this story. It seems like only the bit players get nailed. For the BIG BAD GUYS it is business as usual
Worthwhile reading.
Gorgee

Helpful

Comment

D. Russell

An Exciting and great book.

Reviewed in the United States on September 23, 2014

Verified Purchase

From personal knowledge and experience in Ecuador and in the US with both the Ecuadorian Trial, and the US Trial which caps the struggle between Donziger and Chevron, and because I know a number of the principal characters referenced in "Crude Awakening", I can comment on the interesting way that the book is written and attest to its veracity and accurcy. Crude Awakening is an in-depth examination of the legal struggle which lead the fraudulent attempt by Ecuador to collect $9.5 Billion Dollars from Chevron.
The book is an excellent review of the case and reads very very well- an exciting novel. I read it at one sitting and could not put it down until I finished. The characters are well defined, and the drama in and out of the courtroom is clear, concise, and fascinating.
It is a great read, and I heartily recommend it.

6 people found this helpful

Helpful

Comment

Top international reviews

Daniel Freedman

Unconvincing -- But Entertaining

Reviewed in Canada on December 26, 2014

Verified Purchase

This brisk and very readable eBook is a provocative and well written account that seems to marshal a great deal of evidence to support the author's claims. There are some clever turns for phrase in this entertaining book. It's great airplane reading!

Unfortunately, the author's case is undermined by the very things he professes to deplore in others: exaggeration, overstatement and rhetorical excess -- all wrapped up in a simple-minded good vs. evil melodrama.

In the author's account, Chevron is a victim of over zealous and corrupt lawyers and judges. The company bravely fought back. The author even casts doubt on something not much in dispute: the toxicology of the environmental damage its predecessor company caused. Left unmentioned is Chevron's collusion with corrupt military officials to manufacture a phoney security threat that stopped legal proceedings in one location. Also unmentioned is Chevron's failed attempt to bribe a journalist.

The author lets nothing stand in the way of his colourful yarn-telling. In crafting his "crackling good read," he just can't resist dwelling on the fashion faux pas of a key witness...even including a court artist's sketch. He attaches great -- but undue -- importance to a few theatrical moments at a single trial he attended in 23-year long legal battle. More importantly, he fails to give adequate weight to the $326,000 payments Chevron made to a corrupt judge to testify on its behalf. He downplays the obvious bias of an American judge....whose remedy may yet be overturned on appeal. Instead he focusses on minutiae: his bad guy/fall guy actually walked his dog illegally. AHA! If he's capable of this ... he's capable of anything! Yet some people still stand with him. Shocking!

There are some ritual nods to telling the other side of the story. For instance, the author acknowledges Chevron's hypocrisy in reversing itself on where the case should be heard as events unfolded. But this is done in only the most perfunctory manner.

Bottom line: this highly selective and unbalanced account is all a bit much -- at once grandiose, self-righteous, and unconvincing. In a final theatrical flourish, the author pledges to donate his royalties to indigenous people. Yuck.

Fair-minded readers will want to disregard this silly book.

A much more balanced account is available in LAW OF THE JUNGLE, a book the author faults for "not being one-sided enough."

Sending feedback...

Thank you for your feedback.

Sorry, we failed to record your vote. Please try again

Alf Hills

Excellent accounting of how verisimilitude can allow rogues with agendas ...

Reviewed in Canada on October 28, 2014

Verified Purchase

Excellent accounting of how verisimilitude can allow rogues with agendas to take advantage of innocent people and tie up our legal system - a good read

Sending feedback...

Thank you for your feedback.

Sorry, we failed to record your vote. Please try again

You've read the top international reviews

See all reviews from the United States

Customers who viewed this item also viewed

Page 1 of 1 Start overPage 1 of 1

Paul M. Barrett

122

Kindle Edition
$7.49

Buying Options

OR

Buy for others

Buying and sending eBooks to others

Follow the Author

Similar authors to follow

Crude Awakening: Chevron in Ecuador (Kindle Single) Kindle Edition

Customers who bought this item also bought

Editorial Reviews

Review

Product details

Customer reviews

There was a problem filtering reviews right now. Please try again later.

Top international reviews

Customers who viewed this item also viewed