Gaviotas: A Village to Reinvent the World, 2nd Edition: Alan Weisman: 9781603580564: Amazon.com: Books
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Alan Weisman
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Gaviotas: A Village to Reinvent the World, 2nd Edition Paperback – September 3, 2008
by Alan Weisman (Author)
4.6 out of 5 stars 60 customer reviews
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Editorial Reviews
Review
"...a book telling a tale too lovely for fiction, a lyrical, well-observed book that reports from the llanos of eastern Colombia, savannas tortured by guns and cows and cocaine, of an experiment in solar democracy in which 'appropriate technology' is anything but a sad product on the discount tables of broken, post-sixties idealism."--Tom Athanasiou, The Nation (This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title)
About the Author
Author of the critically acclaimed New York Times best seller The World Without Us, Alan Weisman is an award-winning journalist whose reports have appeared in Harper’s, the New York Times Magazine, Atlantic Monthly, Discover, and Orion, among others, and on National Public Radio. A former contributing editor to the Los Angeles Times Magazine, he is a senior radio producer for Homelands Productions and teaches international journalism at the University of Arizona. He lives in western Massachusetts.
Product details
Paperback: 256 pages
Publisher: Chelsea Green Publishing; 10th anniversary edition (September 3, 2008)
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Biography
Author of the critically acclaimed New
York Times best seller The World
Without Us, Alan Weisman is an
award-winning journalist whose reports
have appeared in Harper Äôs, the New
York Times Magazine, Atlantic Monthly,
Discover, and Orion, among others,
and on National Public Radio. A former
contributing editor to the Los Angeles
Times Magazine, he is a senior radio
producer for Homelands Productions
and teaches international journalism at
the University of Arizona. He lives in
western Massachusetts.
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60 customer reviews
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Read reviews that mentionalan weisman paolo lugari read this book must readpast 100 years true story world how to live thank alan full of hopevillage to reinvent reinvent the world interested in sustainableweisman describes author alan world must amazing storycalled gaviotas book buy buy the book gaviotas the village
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Top Reviews
John Skuja
5.0 out of 5 starsA must read!March 29, 2016
Format: Kindle EditionVerified Purchase
This is an extremely important book to read if we are to understand how the intelligent use of technology can help us survive the collapse of the oil driven economy/world we live in as we run out of that resource. Tech can be used to improve life with out a massive profit motive behind it and community can be formed and sustained with different models for our coming together into community. The story of Gaviotas is amazing and we need to know about it and what has been achieved in a place that was uninhabitable by modern standards, and yet is still supporting a thriving community in a country ravaged by violence and greed....
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Mary H.
5.0 out of 5 starsAmazing, read this if you want to know how to create a sustainable futureJune 15, 2011
Format: PaperbackVerified Purchase
Amazing.
Uplifting.
Inspiring.
Practical.
Read this is you want to know how we can create a sustainable future/less fossil fuel consumption.
*After reading this, about how people living in a "third world country" could create and implement energy efficient technologies, I became very frustrated that the United States did not have the foresight to utilize the same technologies in the 1980's when it would have helped to reduce the coming energy crisis of the next 200 years/end of the industrial age.
The technologies/lifestyle created by the people of Gaviotas serves as a beautiful example of ways to soften our fall from extravagant energy consumption ---> sustainable society.
People have the power, don't let consumer culture steal your creativity. We really do have the brain power (as individuals, don't rely on the federal government for too much) to create a world in which we can live comfortably and happily without relying on the rampant energy usage that we have only gotten accustomed to in the past 100 years.
If you enjoy this book (and I think you will), you may also enjoy:
The World Without Us
Small is Possible: Life in a Local Economy
The Long Descent: A User's Guide to the End of the Industrial Age
and maybe this one if you're interested in communes/community:
A Walden Two Experiment; The First Five Years of Twin Oaks Community.
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Cassie L Petersen
5.0 out of 5 starsGreat book!November 3, 2015
Format: PaperbackVerified Purchase
In the book Gaviotas the author, Alan Weisman paints a vivid picture of a desiccated savanna in Colombia being transformed into a beautiful and rich rain forest. Weisman documents the story of a young development worker named Paolo Lugari who was curious on whether or not an uninhabited and infertile land could be made into a livable place for his growing country. I was pleasantly surprised while reading Gaviotas on how interesting it was and enjoyed reading this book because the author did a great job taking all the information he had about the Gaviotas and making it into a story that was easy to read. Although the book was easy to read, it wasn’t always easy to follow. I had no prior knowledge about Columbia so when the author rattled off places in Columbia or famous people of Columbia I was lost. It would have been easier to follow if the author first gave the readers some back ground knowledge about these places and people.Over-all, this book was interesting and I would recommend others to read it.
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GENE GERUE
5.0 out of 5 starsUtopia? No. Topia? Yes.February 10, 2000
Format: HardcoverVerified Purchase
In 1966, when he was 22, Paolo Lugari and his brother drove over barely passable roads to a desolate area 200 miles east of Bogota, Columbia. The llanos area is a poor-soil barren that grows only a few nutrient-deficient grasses, a vast expanse of sun-baked plains in spite of over 100 inches of rain per year. A place of deadly water and hungry mosquitos. Conditions were so daunting that the Columbian government abandoned an attempt to build a road through the area. Lugari saw an opportunity to create something very special. And he did it. Today Gaviotas is a thriving, sustainable community of hundreds of joyous people studying, inventing, producing, singing and dancing amidst a huge forest that they planted. Residents from all walks of life have designed and built, planted and harvested, birthed, nurtured, taught, and entertained. There are teeter-totters that operate super-efficient pumps to bring water to the school, solar heat to cook meals, solar kettles to sterilize drinking water, ultra-light windmills to provide power. The hospital has been designated one of the 40 most important buildings in the world. Some have called Gaviotas a utopia. Lugari insists that, "Utopia literally means no place. We call Gaviotas a topia because it's real." Gaviotas the village is surprising, uplifting, extraordinary. Gaviotas the nonfiction book is as compelling as a novel, as educational as a textbook, as inspirational as the biography of a great person. If you need to rise early, do not take this book to bed with you.
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