Book: "World made by Hand" by J. Kunstler

[TheDude]

Just fyi for all you Portlander's. Kunstler will be at Powell's in Beaverton, Oregon on April 21st at 7pm.

Maybe we could use the occasion for a po.com Stumptown "Meet," as it's termed in popular depictions of the Mafia..

Well, you wouldn't have seen me at the event.

I left work early to attend and asked the lady at Powell's what the format would be since I've never been to a book signing before. She said he would be reading and answering questions and then sign. Since I knew I couldn't stay that long, I asked if it might be possible to get him to sign The Long Emergency and WMBH before the event. She said the authors are very gracious and referred me to Miles who was setting up the event.

I found Miles and Kuntsler was there too. I patiently waited for a break in the conversation between Kuntlser and a lady that was there. The lady looked up and smiled at me and was giving me an opportunity to talk. Kuntsler immediately started talking to her again, grabs her arm, and guides her in turning her and his back on me.

Ok. I take the hint. I walk out without buying the book and told the Powell's people what I thought about their guest. Maybe I was being rude for wanting to talk to him outside the event?*

*[sub]More likely, Kuntsler was being an arrogant ass. [/sub]

Maybe he was trying to get laid?

You need to be more direct. As he advised during the talk, the future won't be kind to crybabies. His term. "HEY CLUSTERFUCKER! YOU'RE NOT GOING ANYWHERE!" You could smack him in his chrome dome to get his attention. Rude? The guy said Shit and Fuck into the PA a couple times.

[Tucker]

Maybe he was trying to get laid?

You need to be more direct. As he advised during the talk, the future won't be kind to crybabies. His term. "HEY CLUSTERFUCKER! YOU'RE NOT GOING ANYWHERE!" You could smack him in his chrome dome to get his attention. Rude? The guy said Shit and Fuck into the PA a couple times.

The only way I couldn't have been more direct would have been to say "don't turn your back on me! I bought your books and I want them signed now."

Oh well. I'm glad that you went. I would have loved to talk to you! Did he answer any of your questions or address the suggestions?

[TheDude]

Maybe he was trying to get laid?

You need to be more direct. As he advised during the talk, the future won't be kind to crybabies. His term. "HEY CLUSTERFUCKER! YOU'RE NOT GOING ANYWHERE!" You could smack him in his chrome dome to get his attention. Rude? The guy said Shit and Fuck into the PA a couple times.

The only way I couldn't have been more direct would have been to say "don't turn your back on me! I bought your books and I want them signed now."

Oh well. I'm glad that you went. I would have loved to talk to you! Did he answer any of your questions or address the suggestions?

He took a few queries, mine was whether he thought the govment would ever get their act together to revitalize our rail system. "Don't count on it" I think sums up his reply, seeing how great a job they've done with NOLA, which is my feeling too unfortunately. Also that you can't count on the Left to do any better job than the Right. Just thought of a good analogy for partisan politics: Forget Wings, we've evolved into a Moa!

Sorry you got the snub. Striking thing about the crowd was the lack of young bucks. Everyone looked late 30s+. I know we have a few high schoolers on the board, wonder what the overall PO demo is?

[mgibbons19]

{thread merged by emersonbiggins}

Hello all,

I offered to review Kunstler's new book for my blog. It is posted here:

World Made by Hand

And I'll post the text if anybody is interested in discussing it.

Kunstler's World Made by Hand

Kunstler's new book is an interesting read in several ways. As a piece of dystopian fiction, it certainly stands on its own two feet. The book opens in an upstate New York town after the collapse of modern society. In its rurality, the slow pace of life almost reads like a Wendell Berry of the future. Through the book we find however that it is neither necessarily peaceful, nor idyllic. Through the story our protagonist is drawn out of the shell of his former life and into a leadership position pulling his reluctant community together. This eventually sets him up for the dominant conflict of the book. The main antagonist is the group of remnant bikers living out by the dump/junkyard, who make their living scavenging useful bits and pieces from the garbage of the 20th century. The book certainly has a plot line and drive, and takes the reader through some disturbing visions as it wends it way toward the end.

As a piece of peak oil literature (for lack of a better term) it is quite interesting. The peak oil crowd wastes a lot of energy, and sacrifices some credibility, debating when the peak is/was/will be, trumpeting that every drop in production proves their case. Also among the peakers is a concurrent discussion of what the current economic climate portends. These include Kunstler who holds forth on his blog that as oil peaks economic activity also will peak, and the result will be a permanent contraction. Whether this is true or not, only future history will say for sure. Further, Kunstler also made this and all the other associated arguments for what peak will imply as we roll over the top in The Long Emergency. Instead, Kunstler (wisely) sets this piece of fiction far enough into the future, that such speculation surrounding the peak itself isn't really meaningful. It is clearly meant to be a fictional exploration, and I will focus here on some of the deeper implications I read into Kunstler's work.

Of interest is the political organization Kunstler provides. It is positively medieval, made up mostly of small chiefdoms with no official organization left in place, except for the one mad official in Albany who is attempting to hold the government together with his typewriter. Instead we are faced with the biker chiefdom, the capitalized farmer's peasantry, the religious organization of brother Job, and the monopolized mobster trading post down the river in Albany. What is implied that the religious leader is named Job and the last remnant governmental official is both mad and impotent?

Economics and labor in an energy scarce environment are dealt with as well. The protagonist is a carpenter and a musician, who used to be a computer professional. He barters his work to meet his needs, as do others in town. As life gets more difficult, more of the characters join up with the different factions around town. What trade is done with money is done with precious metal coins. These became valuable when the dollar was hyperinflated to oblivion – not surprising if one is familiar with the peak oil and associated literature. Production and trade are intensely local. Long distance trade is by barge shipping only 30 miles down the river. Many/most residents have gardens and very many of them are employed in the labor of agriculture.

The capitalized farmer is one of the more pleasant prospects to join with, and represents an interesting character himself. He runs a profitable little enterprise, providing food and shelter for his laborers. The laborers bring their families and move onto his place. It is feudal, but his is a generous reign. Importantly, he was 'peak aware' before the calamities hit and prepared for life after oil. Thus he was well capitalized, had important hand tools, and had been stocking up on heirloom seeds and old fashioned farming methods. When the calamities hit, his was one of the few places with excess capacity and the ability to help people.

The religious zealot is more sensible than I would have expected Kunstler to portray him. His followers are clean cut and helpful, but as we find out later, they are not afraid of violence when necessary. The religious group has traveled far, escaping persecution and trouble in the south, then in the DC area, and finally finding peace in upstate New York. Sort of a Mormon migration eastwards if you will. They take over the abandoned high school and start converting it to their quarters. Their numbers add a critical mass to the town which had been drifting aimlessly prior to the start of the novel. While the religious group is sensible and helpful, they are not above pure weirdness. This is illustrated by their building essentially a beehive for their queen bee oracle who appears to have some sort of supernatural powers. I have not figured out yet what the she means in the novel.

The criminal element is represented by the biker crowd out at the junkyard. In the novel they are scavenging off the remnants of the 20th century economically. They would appear to stand in for the less savory elements of modern society. First, they have taken over the junkyard/dump by simply by force. There is some discussion that the junkyard/dump should be a resource for all, but they stepped up and monopolized it first. Second, they are entertained by the most crass forms of public entertainment. In the absence of the vulgarity of TV, this crowd improvises, creating its own low-brow entertainment.

In the sociopolitical vacuum slowly being filled by these feudal peasants, religious compounds, and tribal warlords, our protagonist is (accidentally) instrumental in rebuilding the community that is the optimal solution to the problem of oil peaking. Our protagonist finally leaves his sadness for the past behind him, and takes over the leadership role forced upon him. He is instrumental in setting up peaceful relationships between the town and the farm, as well as the religious group. He is also key in eradicating the power base of the criminal element at the junkyard, removing their threat to the town. Personally, he also accepts the family responsibilities thrust upon him in the novel.

The novel thus resolves the central conflict and shows a path forward. Kunstler does not sugar coat the difficulties that his vision suggests. People die for lack of medical care, protective city, state, and federal security are non-existent. The lack of easy travel and communication that such a scenario forces on the town is extreme in its isolation. At the same time, by rebuilding communities, focusing on local production and trade, and building relationships with our neighboring communities, it seems Kunstler is suggesting that there is a way to deal effectively with the problem of energy scarcity.

[mgibbons19]

Thanks for moving it to the appropriate place.

[emersonbiggins]

We already have a thread for reviews of World made by hand.

the link gives this error:
The topic or post you requested does not exist

I merged the old thread into the new, b/c of the more descriptive title; therefore, the old one doesn't exist anymore.

[Jenab6]

Good day from Pheba, from the farm:
Sorry folks, but I did not like this book. I breezed through this short novel in just one evening. I found the writing simple. The descriptions were pat and seemed like they were copied from a "writing for Dummies" book.
For starters, having "terrorists" nuke two American cities fits right into chapter 3 of Kunstler's "Long Emergency". The last thing this country needs is more fear mongering "evildoers", "terrorists" propaganda being spoon-fed to them through shoddy fantasy novels like "World Made By Hand".
I easily saw that Kunstler envisioned himself in the role of the town mayor. Our hero defeats the bad guys, saves a woman and child from a burning building, helps the religious right set up camp, and then helps install running water in the town. What next? Raising the dead? walking on water?
Everybody gets along so beautifully. Life is perfect. Food is perfect.
Our hero has sex with a lusty 47 year old every week. And, being the perfect hero figure, he only does this because he feels sorry for her. Her husband, yes she is married, is not up to the task.
What a bunch of silly nonsense.
Of course, later on, he ends up with a perfect new family. The woman he saved from the burning building moves in with him.
Even the two bad guy groups in the book, the trailer trash truck drivers, and the religious fanatics, are good guys in disguise.
This is the most unrealistic cornucopian dream like post apocalyptic fantasy I have ever read.
How wonderful that both the small town dentist and the doctor survived the combined effects of Peak Oil, a killer virus, nuclear explosions, and assorted other hardships.
"World Made By Hand" is Kunstler's personal dream vision of his perfect world.
This is not the best peak oil book I have ever read. This is not even a good novel. Mercifully, "World Made By Hand" is short. That is the only good thing I can say about it.
My husband could not finish the book. He had to put it down.
We are farmers, and most of his assertions about growing food were not accurate and some were just plain silly.
I paid $24.95 for the book. Fortunately I purchased it from a co-op that supports anti-war efforts, including a peace march this weekend. Unfortunately I could have bought a much better book for 24.95. I reccomend getting this drivel from the library if you really want to zip through it.
Pheba.

Thanks for saving me that much money. I didn't have a high opinion of Kunstler from reading The Long Emergency. I have plenty of fantasy already, mostly written by people who make their living writing fantasy and have earned literary recognition thereby: George R.R. Martin, Robin Hobb, Katharine Kerr, Raymond E. Feist, Robert Jordan, etc. I've quit buying books, unless I hear that something is really special, because I already have 1700 novels, and that's more than I'll probably read in the remainder of my lifetime.

[BigTex]

Good day from Pheba, from the farm:
Sorry folks, but I did not like this book. I breezed through this short novel in just one evening. I found the writing simple. The descriptions were pat and seemed like they were copied from a "writing for Dummies" book.
For starters, having "terrorists" nuke two American cities fits right into chapter 3 of Kunstler's "Long Emergency". The last thing this country needs is more fear mongering "evildoers", "terrorists" propaganda being spoon-fed to them through shoddy fantasy novels like "World Made By Hand".
I easily saw that Kunstler envisioned himself in the role of the town mayor. Our hero defeats the bad guys, saves a woman and child from a burning building, helps the religious right set up camp, and then helps install running water in the town. What next? Raising the dead? walking on water?
Everybody gets along so beautifully. Life is perfect. Food is perfect.
Our hero has sex with a lusty 47 year old every week. And, being the perfect hero figure, he only does this because he feels sorry for her. Her husband, yes she is married, is not up to the task.
What a bunch of silly nonsense.
Of course, later on, he ends up with a perfect new family. The woman he saved from the burning building moves in with him.
Even the two bad guy groups in the book, the trailer trash truck drivers, and the religious fanatics, are good guys in disguise.
This is the most unrealistic cornucopian dream like post apocalyptic fantasy I have ever read.
How wonderful that both the small town dentist and the doctor survived the combined effects of Peak Oil, a killer virus, nuclear explosions, and assorted other hardships.
"World Made By Hand" is Kunstler's personal dream vision of his perfect world.
This is not the best peak oil book I have ever read. This is not even a good novel. Mercifully, "World Made By Hand" is short. That is the only good thing I can say about it.
My husband could not finish the book. He had to put it down.
We are farmers, and most of his assertions about growing food were not accurate and some were just plain silly.
I paid $24.95 for the book. Fortunately I purchased it from a co-op that supports anti-war efforts, including a peace march this weekend. Unfortunately I could have bought a much better book for 24.95. I reccomend getting this drivel from the library if you really want to zip through it.
Pheba.

Thanks for saving me that much money. I didn't have a high opinion of Kunstler from reading The Long Emergency. I have plenty of fantasy already, mostly written by people who make their living writing fantasy and have earned literary recognition thereby: George R.R. Martin, Robin Hobb, Katharine Kerr, Raymond E. Feist, Robert Jordan, etc. I've quit buying books, unless I hear that something is really special, because I already have 1700 novels, and that's more than I'll probably read in the remainder of my lifetime.

Jenab6, how old are you?

[PrairieMule]

I'm on chapter 2 and this is one real downer. Very hard core.

[cipi604]

I think i'm gonna' buy it.

[RdSnt]

It's actually far to utopian, it skips over the initial chaos of the collapse. Which means the context is distorted to reflect a fantasy outcome. As Kunstler has said though, it is a fictional novel.

[Schadenfreude]

I'm on chapter 2 and this is one real downer. Very hard core.

No it's not. It's really quite mild.

I just finished the book. I thought it was poorly written literature compared to Cormac McCarthy's, "The Road". Now there is good writing.

There's nothing distinctive about Kunstler's story. It doesn't instruct or enlighten. The plot is mediocre and the quality of writing is merely passable."A World Made By Hand" is like an old small town Western, with all the usual human foibles and the usual battle between good vs evil - except that it has also has post-oil material thrown in as background.

It probably wouldn't be difficult to find a better written Western, or a better written tale of small town life in the 19th century.

It's obvious that Kunstler is wishing for the demise of civilization. He appears to hold in contempt those who would yearn for a world made by brains. He obviously has contempt for those who would believe that human beings can perfect their world through their intelligence.

It's as if he is saying, "Don't try to think, it only gets you in trouble".
Well, if that's the story of the human race, its pointless to tell any stories at all, isn't it?

[syrac818]

Kunstler is garbage.

The fact that the dude is taken even semi-seriously by people on this board is what's the real downer. He's made a pretty solid amount of cash off his own brand of doomerism, and it's always the same thing -

I'm not that talented of a writer, but I can take pessimism and whining to a whole new level.

Fuck him. And fuck Savinar too. Both of them have been owned on their projections of life with $100+ oil.

[TheDude]

Where'd the original reviews Topic on WMBH go?

[Hagakure_Leofman]

Kunstler is garbage.

Thanks for that! I'm off to order my copy now. After what you've written 'syrac818', and how you've put it, I'm sure this book will be worth buying.

Poor ol' Kunstler. People can't help shooting the messenger. Some people always need a little ice-cream with their bad news. I say there is nothing wrong with a good strong espresso, so if you're reading Mr K, keep up the good work.

[johhnytrash]

I liked it. I didn't think the plot was very deep. But it was entertaining. I liked how there were aspects to the post-oil world that I didn't consider, like how some 'burgs will do better then others and people going insane. I'm not looking forward to everyone talking about Jesus all the time, but Mr. K made it seem like peak oil would be tolerable... if you survive the die-off.

[Schadenfreude]

Kunstler is garbage.

Thanks for that! I'm off to order my copy now. After what you've written 'syrac818', and how you've put it, I'm sure this book will be worth buying.

Poor ol' Kunstler. People can't help shooting the messenger. Some people always need a little ice-cream with their bad news. I say there is nothing wrong with a good strong espresso, so if you're reading Mr K, keep up the good work.

It's not that anyone needs "ice cream" with bad news, it's that Kunstler created a merely mediocre story. Writing/Story-Telling is an art form. Some people are really talented at it. But Kunstler is not.

If you yourself, dim the lights, lay down and shut your eyes and try to conjure up the first vision of what post-peak 15-20 years will look like (given the unlikely absence of any adaptation or innovation), then you could pretty much think up the basic picture created in "A World Made By Hand" all on your own without working very hard.

The gift of a talented writer is to immerse the reader credibly into an original and unexpected story line; teaching, enlightening, exposing, provoking thought, creating wonder, challenging preconceptions, asking important questions both tangible and moral, etc.

Kunstler just half-asses his way through his predictable novel without achieving any of those more noble writing goals. His narrow focus of the small town activities of a small group of people merely serves to screen out the larger world (conveniently for Kunstler) because to include the larger world would have required a larger, more comprehensive story with a larger total vision and larger, more complex set of events. A larger vision is something that Kunstler did not demonstrate in this novel.

When you compare Kunstler's mediocre attempt with some of Steinbeck's works, the comparison is simply laughable. I get the impression that Kunstler just needs to keep irons in the fire within the milieu of the sustainability movement, the new urbanism movement, the peak oil movement, etc. So he wrote a not-too-difficult or involved novel in order to keep his name out there in front of people.

[DomusAlbion]

On the level of great literature as Schadenfreude has spoken to, Kunstler's work is not great. It is, however, an easy, relaxing read about a possible post peak oil future. Not doomer porn, not too exciting yet it does discuss a small piece of the problem and gets the ideas out into the public market.

Who knows; some people might opt out of the big city rat race because they read the book.

[TheDude]

His narrow focus of the small town activities of a small group of people merely serves to screen out the larger world (conveniently for Kunstler) because to include the larger world would have required a larger, more comprehensive story with a larger total vision and larger, more complex set of events. A larger vision is something that Kunstler did not demonstrate in this novel.

"Vision" isn't dictated by the size of the milieu, c.f. Thoreau. Wasn't knocked out by Kunstler's fiction but he's serviceable enough. Yes, he's no Steinbeck. Neither was Chandler, your point?

How about mashing the two WMBH threads together, Domus?

[alecifel]

I'm not overly fond of JHK, given his snooty anti-southern bent and tendency towards gross bigotry. He's also a doomer of the first class, a linear-thinking wilderness crank casting projections based on second hand knowledge. I don't know how working for "Rolling Stone" qualifies one to sell so many books on energy and architecture. The man has no interdisciplinary studies skills (neither do many economists, geologists, or cornucopians for that matter). And sitting still long enough for an interview for "End of Suburbia" really isn't enough to qualify one as an "expert".

But the novel was entertaining. Poorly written but so are a lot of other books. I think it's worth reading. And Jim's opinions are worth the same as anyone else's, even though they're often insulting. Can't fault a Yankee - they don't know any better! The important thing is he is out there drawing attention to this issue, which is one thing doomers are good for. They get attention. Then people research this a little more and get a better understanding. 6 billion people aren't going to die tomorrow and we're not going back to horses and carts (couldn't feed them if we tried). But maybe somewhere along the line they'll trade their McMansion for an Earthship, buy from the farmer's market and ride a bike to work.

At first I was annoyed with the tangents that didn't get followed up on. Then I realized the book is written first person, non-omiscient. He's telling a story from one person's point of view. So naturally, there are things that just go out of sight. And I think the blank you draw throughout the book is there on purpose. It's meant to invoke a sense of confusion and loss that is appropriate for the setting.

So one (and maybe a half) thumb up. Every Yankee has his day!

NJA