"It's part natural history, part true crime, and buckets of slippery, slimy fun. You won't be able to put it down."—The Nature Conservancy"Revelatory—and sometimes shocking... Slippery Beast brings exhaustive research and interviews to bear on a subject of surprising richness."— Wall Street JournalEllen Ruppel Shell's Slippery Beast is a fascinating account of a deeply mysterious creature—the eel—a thrilling...

A myth-shattering investigation of the true cost of America's passion for finding a better bargainFrom the shuttered factories of the Rust Belt to the strip malls of the Sun Belt-and almost everywhere in between-America has been transformed by its relentless fixation on low price. This pervasive yet little- examined obsession with bargains is arguably the most powerful and devastating market force of our time, having fueled an excess of consumerism that blights our...

Critically acclaimed journalist Ellen Ruppel Shell uncovers the true cost--political, economic, social, and personal--of America's mounting anxiety over jobs, and what we can do to regain control over our working lives.Since 1973, our productivity has grown almost six times faster than our wages. Most of us rank so far below the top earners in the country that the "winners" might as well inhabit another planet. But work is about much more than earning a living. Wor...

According to the World Health Organization:· The UK is the second most obese nation on the planet [the US is the first].· One in five British adults is obese· Two-thirds of men and half of women are overweight· 31,000 British deaths a year are obesity-related**Obesity costs £500 million to the NHS and £2 billion to th...

We are facing a gathering health crisis of epic proportions. The crisis is obesity and the diseases linked to it - hypertension, diabetes, cancer and heart disease. While multinational drug companies race to find a cure, the problem only worsens, with experts declaring thatthe UK is the second most obese nation on the planet and that 31,000 death a year in Britain are obesity-related.In a rare blend of cutting-edge science, history and personal stories, Shell builds a compelling na...

What is it about eels? Depending on who you ask, they are a pest, a fascination, a threat, a pot of gold. Eels emerged some 200 million years ago, weathered mass extinctions and continental shifts, and were once among the world's most abundant freshwater fish. But since the 1970s, their numbers have plummeted. Because eels—as unagi—are another thing: delicious.In Slippery Beast, journalist Ellen Ruppel Shell travels in the world of "eel people," pursuing a fascination with...

From the shuttered factories of the rust belt to the look-alike strip malls of the sun belt—and almost everywhere in between—America has been transformed by its relentless fixation on low price. This pervasive yet little examined obsession is arguably the most powerful and devastating market force of our time—the engine of globalization, outsourcing, planned obsolescence, and economic instability in an increasingly unsettled world.Low price is so alluring that we may have forgotten...

Luxury was once was available only to the rarefied and aristocratic world of old money and royalty.It offered a history of tradition, superior quality, and a pampered buying experience. Today, however, luxury is simply a product packaged and sold by multibillion-dollar global corporations focused on growth, visibility, brand awareness, advertising, and, above all, profits.Award-winning journalist Dana Thomas digs deep into the dark side of the luxury indust...

From the author of the New York Times Notable Book of the Year Drive By comes a unique and riveting exploration of one of America’s largest and fastest-growing industries—the business of poverty. Broke, USA is a Fast Food Nation for the “poverty industry” that will also appeal to readers of Barbara Ehrenreich (Nickel and Dimed) and David Shipler (The Working Poor).

A brilliant, invigorating account of the great writers on both sides of the Iron Curtain who played the dangerous games of espionage, dissidence and subversion that changed the course of the Cold War.During the Cold War, literature was both sword and noose. Novels, essays and poems could win the hearts and minds of those caught between the competing creeds of capitalism and communism. They could also lead to exile, imprisonment or execution if they offended those i...

A Wall Street Journal reporter's account of the radical transformation of the fashion industry, "filled with insider details" ( Library Journal).The time when fashion was defined by French designers whose clothes could be afforded only by the elite has ended. Now designers take their cues from mainstream consumers and creativity is channeled more into mass-marketing clothes than into designing them. In The End of Fashion, Wall Street J...

“Overdressed does for T-shirts and leggings what Fast Food Nation did for burgers and fries.”—Katha PollittCheap fashion has fundamentally changed the way most Americans dress. Stores ranging from discounters like Target to traditional chains like JCPenney now offer the newest trends at unprecedentedly low prices. And we have little reason to keep wearing and repairing the clothes we already own when styles change so fast and it’s c...