The Party's Over, by Richard Heinberg

[DJ Bolivia]

The Party’s Over, by Richard Heinberg
A top pick, not because it is the most comprehensive book available, but because it is such a good overall introduction for beginners to the energy problems we are about to face.  To be honest, I found the first fifty pages to be a bit boring, talking about how humans got to this point in our history.  However, after that, the book went on to cover a large number of useful topics from oil depletion, to alternative sources of energy, to what could possibly/probably happen to the economy/transportation/agriculture/environment/international politics, to specific thoughts and recommendations about how to potentially cope if some of the outlined events take place.

[firefly]

greetings~~  have'nt read this yet, still chewing on " the long emergancy"...sigh...
                  attempting to speak peak oil with other earthlings(once held in high esteem for their intelligence), one  hits a brick wall... folks want to diss any voice of concern, tho clearly they have'nt read a damn thing on the subject......I want to approch peak oil with  calmness and sharp brain intact--
mostly want someone to convince me otherwise...thats' where i find myself now...with urgent plans waiting to be made       &aquire'n new skill sets, like yesterday...feels kinds wacky.. peaceout
     prove me wrong on this peak oil thang...any takers?  suggestions of a rational nature?

[RobTzu]

That was my first book on the subject also, and I would reccomend it to people umfamilar with Peak Oil.  If fact, I try to lend it out, but reading is scary to people.

[highstreet]

I haven't read this one, but Powerdown is highly recommended.

I have seen him at the ASPO meetings in Yellowsprings, Ohio.  He is an exellent speaker, not as entertaining as Kunstler though.

[Jojo888]

Heinberg's scholarship and thorough study of Peak Oil issues make his books a must read. But, if you have relatives and friends like mine who seldom read a book, and when on occasion they do, it is likely to be a popular fiction novel, you might try an audio recording of one of Heinberg's presentations. There is one available on the internet at Alternative Radio dot org.  I bought the recording in CD form ($15). It's also available as an mp3 download ($5), an audio tape ($15), and you can even buy a written transcript($9). The recording was made on the 29th of January, 2006, at a public presentation Heinberg made in Eugene, Oregon. The recording's audio is good, and Heinberg talks for about one hour and covers in summary much of the same material from his books, "The Party's Over", and "Powerdown".  I tried to get my adult niece and nephew interested in reading "The Party's Over", but they never took the time to read the book, even after I bought them each a copy of the book as a gift.  But I was successful at getting them to listen to the CD. They listened to it on their car CD player while driving around town. Here's a link to the store page at Alternative Radio dot org. I'm not affiliated with Alternative Radio in any way, in case you might wonder.  Jojo :-)

http://www.alternativeradio.org/programs/HEIR001.shtml

[Huby7]

Heinberg's scholarship and thorough study of Peak Oil issues make his books a must read. But, if you have relatives and friends like mine who seldom read a book, and when on occasion they do, it is likely to be a popular fiction novel, you might try an audio recording of one of Heinberg's presentations.

You can also purchase CD's of the speech Heinberg gave at the Midwest Renewable Energy Fair in Wisconsin a few years ago at The Superior Broadcast Network: http://www.superiorbroadcast.org/Heinberg.htm.  I'm sure they would be willing to negotiate a fair price for some CD's.  I was there when Heinberg gave his talk and though it was really good.

Curt

[Jojo888]

A Richard Heinberg Peak Oil lecture will be shown on Free Speech TV on Dish Network Satellite Channel 9415. It's part of their "Keynote" lecture series.   Here's a link to Free Speech TV's schedule.
http://tinyurl.com/tfu7f
Heinberg is on Friday, Oct 27th at 1pm PDT, Saturday, Oct 28th at 8am PDT and  Noon PDT, and Sunday at 9am PST, and 4pm PST. Free Speech TV is having a fund drive, so actual show times may vary.