#michael blanding

[bookmama]

True Crime Tuesday! The Map Thief by Michael Blanding. Synopsis from the publisher: The story of an infamous crime, a revered map dealer with an unsavory secret, and the ruthless subculture that consumed him Maps have long exerted a special fascination on viewers—both as beautiful works of art and as practical tools to navigate the world. But to those who collect them, the map trade can be a cutthroat business, inhabited by quirky and sometimes disreputable characters in search of a finite number of extremely rare objects. Once considered a respectable antiquarian map dealer, E. Forbes Smiley spent years doubling as a map thief —until he was finally arrested slipping maps out of books in the Yale University library. The Map Thief delves into the untold history of this fascinating high-stakes criminal and the inside story of the industry that consumed him.

[frankiebow]

Resolve Your Toughest Problems with 5 Questions

Resolve Your Toughest Problems with 5 Questions

In Managing in the Gray, Joseph Badaracco offers managers a five-question framework for facing murky situations and solving tough problems at work.

Approaching a problem as a manager means working with others and doing all you can to really understand the problem. “You don’t decide these things in splendid isolation or with brilliant insights. You get data and use the tools you have to analyze…

View On WordPress

[librarienne]

At the Antiquarian Booksellers Association dinner, he was a tireless dancer and a shameless flirt.

Michael Blanding describing R.V. Tooley in "The Map Thief" Filed under "sentences I wish were written about me."

[usnatarchives]

The Map Thief

Maps have long fascinated viewers—both as beautiful works of art and as practical tools to navigate the world. But for collectors, the map trade can be a cutthroat business. In his book The Map Thief: The Gripping Story of an Esteemed Rare-Map Dealer Who Made Millions Stealing Priceless Maps, author Michael Blanding describes the life of E. Forbes Smiley, a respectable antiquarian map dealer who spent years doubling as a map thief—until he was finally arrested for slipping maps out of books in the Yale University library. A book signing follows the program.

Thursday, October 23, at noon in the William G. McGowan Theater. 

Watch live on YouTube.

[booksarethefuture-blog-blog]

The Coke Machine: The Dirty Truth Behind the World's Favorite Soft Drink by Michael Blanding (2011)

"Is it hungry? / Is it real? / Does it know basically how I feel?"

            -Wounded Lion, “Hungry?”

If Wounded Lion, here, is asking about Coca-Cola, Michael Blanding answers, “yes.” Throughout The Coke Machine, an unflattering tour of the company’s extensive, and near-labyrinthine, history of lies and greed, Blanding positions Coca-Cola as the “essence of capitalism,” which would be a hungry beast, indeed. The book is an attempt to portray company history as a feedback loop of turning the cold shoulder on vices and moral wrongs--especially the obesity problem in the USA, and political murders and environmental destruction in foreign countries--to maximize shareholder profits and positive brand image.

This addition to the world of Soft Drink Studies is at its best when chronicling action. The lattermost part of The Coke Machine guides the viewer chronologically through an interconnected series of legal maneuvers against the company, pitting the Atlanta headquarters against a diverse cohort of lawyers, activists, union leaders, and far-flung villagers in an attempt to get Coke to admit its wrongdoings in Columbia (murder) and India (water rights, and pollution). In these pages, the book becomes an impressive bureaucracy procedural, detailing the way the courts, the lawyers, and the executives work together to make justice as complicated and ill-meted as cynically possible.

Elsewhere Blanding tries to scorch Coke with his prose, but all he can muster is a lukewarm cliché. If you can, fight through writing like this: “Finding the Coca-Cola Company accused of murder is like finding out Santa Claus is accused of being a pedophile.” Yikes. Forgive the style, and you will be rewarded with substance. It’s by no means essential, but I will never grudge the world another book about soda.