Crude World: The Violent Twilight of Oil Audiobook

" This book should be mandatory reading for every literate person in the world. "

" This one is less about what the future may or may hold than it is about the past and present of oil and the effect (largely negative) it tends to have on the countries where it is discovered and extracted. One interesting thing I learned was why so many countries that have large oil reserves are so poor. Garden variety corruption is part of it, but it also has to do with the poor countries having no leverage when it comes to negotiations; they have the oil, but they usually require the resources and expertise of companies in richer nations to extract and refine it. Therefore they get poor royalty rates for the oil, and relatively little is returned to the developing country's economy. A lot of the time they also put all of their economic eggs in the oil basket (so to speak) and go through boom-bust cycles along with oil prices, which is never a good way to have a healthy economy. The author is a great investigative journalist, but the book could have been a bit more focused...it kind of meanders along from country to country and ends rather abruptly without a conclusion beyond "oil poisons almost everything it touches." "

" Not really a great book - as others have said, sort of reads like a long magazine article. No heavy hitting analysis, though the author does manage to get interviews with some key players in the oil industry. The main point of this book is: oil is a dirty and corrupt business. While some of the examples of how disturbing it is are memorable, for the most part, this is a book that tells you things you already know. "

" very interesting in light of everything happening now in the Gulf "

" B- Interesting book about how oil is related to violence, war, corruption, and greed. At times, it failed to capture my attention and I skimmed much of it; some parts are sad, but I don't think he truly captured the devastation that the negativity surrounding oil can cause. "

" Skimmed for research - some very good info "

" Reporter Peter Maass makes the study of oil countries as easy as pie, a flawless and eloquent writer. History, social commentary, details of the lead players, all point to corrupting, evil stakes, violent scenarios. Get more Maass. "

" The book is somewhat interesting, but lacks depth -- and there are better things out there for the money. "

" The author records plenty of crude and rude incidents all over the world with regard to crude oil. "

" I put this book on my "politics" shelf because although Maas considers the economics of petroleum, the focus of his argument is that, as Lord Acton wrote "power tends to corrupt", and oil is power in most meanings of that word. "

" The author is a much better interview than a writer. Sometimes, less is more. And when the facts about the petroleum industry are as compelling as they are, let them speak for themselves. "

" I appreciated the concepts and ideas this book was trying to present but the book just felt disorganized and the writing style was inappropriate for the topic. "

" With vignettes from Nigeria, Venezuela, Kurdistan, Saudi Arabia and Equatorial Guinea, documentation of the corrosive effects of oil riches, which somehow never seem to improve the living conditions, political transparency or societal productivity of those blessed with petroleum reserves. "

" I put this book on my "politics" shelf because although Maas considers the economics of petroleum, the focus of his argument is that, as Lord Acton wrote "power tends to corrupt", and oil is power in most meanings of that word. "

" This book should be mandatory reading for every literate person in the world. "

" The author records plenty of crude and rude incidents all over the world with regard to crude oil. "

" very interesting in light of everything happening now in the Gulf "