Buzz
admin August 29th, 2007
Catch the buzz on Frances & Getting a Grip…
…IN PRINT:
The Nation (April 15, 2008 issue) and Common Dreams:
The Only Fitting Tribute,” Frances’s take on the New Deal written for The Nation and found also on CommonDreams.org.
San Francisco Chronicle — Getting a Grip hit the best-selling paperback list in the San Francisco Chronicle in December!
As of January two translations of Getting a Grip are underway–German and Korean. The German edition will include local stories of living democracy.
O, the Oprah Magazine
Check out October’s O - circulation 1 million-plus! On page 92 there is an excerpt from Getting a Grip called “Note to Self: Power Up.” Here’s a taste:
“Power can manipulate, coerce, and destroy. …If we accept ecology’s insights that we exist in densely woven networks, then we must also accept that every choice we make sends out ripples … the choice we have is not whether, but only how, we can change the world.”
Boston Magazine
Frances was recently quoted in a fascinating article about workplace democracy by Michael Blanding.
“If we spend our entire day as serfs basically just following orders, how can we be expected to be problem-solvers in our families, our communities, and our nation?”
Read the entire article here.
Booklist
Booklist recently posted a wonderful review of Getting a Grip.
“The indefatigable Lappe turns her finely tuned sense of outrage and her deeply honed sense of conviction to the unending and seemingly unmanageable problems confronting the world and focuses her clarion vision on solutions that may begin with just one person but that can end with an entire culture becoming more informed, more caring, more responsible. If we, as individuals, do not willingly choose to live defeated by poverty, debilitated by disease, demoralized by racism, she posits, then why should these abhorrent conditions not only exist but proliferate, especially in a democratic society? Displaying her usual laserlike logic, Lappe distills her arguments to their most basic level, a tactic that allows her crystalline assessments to virtually leap off the page. Parsing the notion of democracy, Lappe examines its successes and failures, offering creative and innovative methods for turning egregious areas of weakness into exhilarating beacons of strength. Progressing from confronting fear to seizing power, Lappe’s treatise on humanity’s potential for growth is a comforting source of inspiration. Haggas, Carol.”
ForeWord Magazine
ForeWord Magazine, a publication aimed at independent publishers, recently included Getting a Grip in a special section on political ideas in the “Late Bush Era.”
“Frances Moore Lappe … reaffirms people’s capacity for creating a good world out of the calamities—disease, poverty, animal extinction—endured by our current one. With plenty of anecdotes of how people, relying on their “basic sanity,” successfully meet the challenges of globalism and world terrorism.”
Take a look at the entire issue here.
Tikkun Magazine
The September/October issue included a rousing review by managing editor David Belden
Belden describes Lappé as one of the “midwives at the rebirth of radical hope.”
Getting a Grip is “a fresh look constructed by an original mind, a woman who is grappling with real life problems worldwide and who is pragmatic and out-of-the-box in seeing where entry points for change can be made….
Lappé [gives]…plenty of examples of people making change in whatever system they inhabit by bringing stakeholders together irrespective of their initial opinions or class status. The necessary ingredients include a passion to change things, a freedom from too much ideology, a readiness to both enter into conflict and to mediate it through the kind of facilitation that enables people to hear each other’s real needs, and the learning of partnership and communication skills…
The best part of Lappé’s book to me was when she suggested a whole new vocabulary for us to use…
If this book isn’t inspirational and helpful, then I don’t know what is. But it isn’t an all-encompassing theory. It isn’t a Das Capital to set an agenda for economic research and idealistic policy wonks for a hundred years. That may be just as well, for pragmatic compassion and cooperative innovation with no pre-set limits may be just what we need.
Read the entire article here.
Conscious Choice / Whole Life Times
This family of four magazines recently published a special excerpt from Getting a Grip. Frances muses about the nature of power in “Power: Redefining a Dirty Word”:
“If we accept ecology’s insights that we exist in densely woven networks, then we must also accept that every choice we make sends out ripples, even if we’re not consciously choosing. So the choice we have is not whether but rather how we change the world.”
Read the rest of this thought provoking essay here.
Mail Tribune
This Southern Oregon newspaper covers Frances’s appearance on Jeff Golden’s new webcast, Immense Possibilities Radio.
Jackson Free Press
The newspaper’s operations manager reviews Getting a Grip here.
Girlistic
The Feminist Pulse, Girlistic Magazine’s blog, posted an interview with Frances about Getting a Grip. You can read it here.
75 Books by Women whose Words have Changed the World
Frances’s first book, Diet for a Small Planet, was chosen for inclusion.
Public News Service
The Public News Service ran a piece to highlight Frances’ appearance at Busboys & Poets in the Washington area. You can hear the piece online here.
Tikkun
Frances’ essay, “Heart Centered Realism” appears in the January/February issue of Tikkun magazine.
Shelterforce Magazine
Getting a Grip appears in the Winter issue of Shelterforce in their “New & Noted” section; you can also find the brief review online. Here is a bit of what they have to say:
“Few writers have Lappé’s capacity to empower citizens. She speaks to us on almost a personal level, showing that we can all play a role in making change.”
Yes! Magazine
Frances’ “Commentary: Climate Change, Courage, and Celebration” is featured in the Winter issue of Yes! Magazine.
“I’ve spent much of my life focused on learning that, in regard to world hunger, fear and guilt don’t truly motivate systemic change. Sometimes they have the exact opposite effect.”
You can read the entire article on page 11 of your copy. You can also check it out here.
Shambhala Sun
Frances’ essay on “Natural Abundance” is a cover feature in the January issue of Shambhala Sun (on newstands now).
Shambhala Sun introduces her essay (located on pages 29 to 35):
“According to Frances Moore Lappé, author of Diet for a Small Planet, there’s no lack of either goods or goodness in the world. If we take a fresh look, we’ll discover that scarcity is something we’ve created ourselves.”
Relevant Times
Relevant Times is carrying Getting a Grip in it’s “May We Suggest” section in their November/December issue.
…ON THE AIRWAVES:
Air America (Saturday March 22 — Friday March 28)
Frances Moore Lappe, Andrea Batista Schlesinger, and Reefer Madness author Eric Schlosser participated in“Toward a New New Deal,” a panel discussion related to The Nation magazine’s current New Deal special issue.
Earthbeat Radio
Frances taped an interview with Earthbeat Radio earlier this fall. Download the podcast here, where she appears alongside author David Korten and Victor Menotti of the International Forum on Globalization.
Frances has made over 50 broadcast appearances for Getting a Grip, and still counting! Find upcoming appearances, as well as links to stations, sites, shows, and archives here.
…ONLINE:
Huffington Post
“Wasn’t It Also Obama’s ‘Democracy Speech’?, a piece in response to Barack Obama’s so-called “race speech” went online on March 26, 2008.
The Nation (April 15, 2008 issue) and Common Dreams:
The Only Fitting Tribute,” Frances’s take on the New Deal written for The Nation and found also on CommonDreams.org.
The Nation
John Nichols posted an excellent review of Getting a Grip on The Nation website:
“No popular intellectual has been so very successful in reshaping the character and content of debates about environmental and food policy as this remarkable woman. … Lappé is saying what every presidential candidate should, and she is doing so with the boldness that is required if we hope to … shape a future worthy of a nation founded on revolutionary promise and a world that will only be set right if that promise is kept.”
Read the entire article here. The Madison Capital Times also ran the piece here and Common Dreams here.
Democracy Space
Democracy Space hosted an online conversation with Frances on January 17th. In anticipation, they included Getting a Grip in their end of October book roundup. Check out their site here or find out more about the event here.
Sprig.com
Sprig–Smart People Are Into Green–is running a great interview with Frances and her daughter, Anna. Here’s a sample of what Frances has to say:
“What I’m thinking about today is: How do I get better at challenging what I call the mechanical, moralistic world view, and how do I counter that more effectively with an ecological, empowering world view. A lot of the environmental messages are still trapped in ‘less is more.’ It’s important to wake people up to how dire things are, but we’re defeating ourselves if we do that while we disempower them.”
Read the rest of the interview here.
The Backbone Campaign — an organization created by artists to provide creative tools and solutions to a growing progressive movement — has nominated Frances for their “Progressive Cabinet” as the Secretary of Democracy and Election Integrity. Listen to her “First 100 Days” statement here.
SheSource.org
The press information website whose motto is “Closing the Gender Gap in News Media” featured Frances as the “Expert of the Week”! Check it out.
Eating Liberally
Eating Liberally–Free Yourself from the Fossil Fuel Food Chain–is featuring Getting a Grip on their “Book Buffet.” Check it out.
Shel Horowitz’s Newsletter
You might be surprised to hear that Getting a Grip was recently reviewed by in a business/marketing newsletter. Here’s some of what Shel has to say:
“Lappe’s central thesis is that large corporate and government entities have robbed consumers of their citizenship, by substituting what she calls ‘Thin Democracy’–I’d call it ‘Pseudo-Democracy’ for the involved and active citizen participation that comprises true democracy–and that we, the people, can take back our rightful heritage as citizens–as people who participate in the decisions that affect us–and initiate true change.”
Read the rest of the review in Shel’s newsletter.
Powell’s Online Exclusive
Powell’s has an exclusive essay from Frances about her personal journey of discovery and empowerment, moving from Diet to Getting a Grip. Here’s a sample:
“Breaking free of the myth of scarcity and realizing there is enough — both enough goods and enough goodness — is the first step to discovering our own power. Consider, for example, that the sun provides daily doses of energy 15,000 times what humans use for all purposes. So much for energy scarcity! Or consider what scientists now confirm about our nature: that humans are hard-wired for empathy and cooperation — and probably hard-wired to desire basic fairness as well. We have what it takes to create the world we want. So we can let go of our feelings of powerlessness.”
You can read the entire essay here.
Utne Online Podcast
Leif Utne interviewed Frances for his UtneCast #36. Here’s some of what Frances had to say:
“We now have the historical record to prove the conditions that bring out the best in us. So lets drop the notion about humans being good or bad and look for the goodness in human nature not of human nature.”
“It’s time to give up on the idea that democracy is simply an election and recognize that democracy is a way of life.”
Hear the entire conversation here.
Washington Public Campaigns
Washing Public Campaigns, a state wide organization pushing for public campaigns/clean elections in Washington state are adding our new documentary, Getting a Grip on Money & Politics, to their presentation DVD.
Huffington Post
In recognition of Wold Food Day, tomorrow, Tuesday, October 16th, a joint essay by Frances and Anna Lappe will appear on the Huffington Post: “The Right to Food Means Freedom from Dogma.” Here’s an advance sample:
“That simple truth explains what otherwise is of course mind-boggling: Though the planet produces enough calories to make every one of us chubby, 854 million are hungry, up from 830 million six years ago according to the United Nations. Here at home where 13,000 calories a day are produced in grain alone for each of us, market dogma leaves millions hungry: 36 million Americans are food insecure—that’s more than the entire population of Canada.”
Read the entire article here.
Frances also recently posted an essay arguing that Al Gore’s The Assault on Reason – while filled with “masterly prose” – pulls up short before recognizing that wealth and power are effectively coequal in the current American political system. While Gore urges individuals to use the burgeoning information sources to “mediate between wealth and power,” Lappe asks, “How can Gore miss the inherent power of highly concentrated wealth to corrupt democracy?”
Read her entire lively challenge here.
Alaskans for Clean Elections have given Frances’ new film, Getting a Grip on Money & Politics, pride of place: It is front and center on their Home Page!
The Daily Campus
DC Online carried a brief story about Frances’ appearance at the University of Connecticut Coop.
“… very thought provoking and inspirational … [Lappe] not only inspired people who identified with her causes …, but she was also able to captivate and motivate the rest of the audience.”
Unitarian-Universalist General Assembly
Frances spoke to the Unitarian-Universalist General Assembly in June. Her speech, “Transforming Despair into Action for Darfur,” focused on historical lessons to argue that, while humans have the capacity for evil, we must move beyond that towards a “reality-based hope.” Read what the Unitarian-Universalist Service Committee human rights weblog says here.
…AND FROM OTHER CULTURAL LEADERS:
“Getting a Grip is not an ordinary book: it’s more like a new pair of glasses, allowing you to see everything around you with greater clarity. Suddenly the world is more comprehensible, more manageable, even more beautiful. You won’t want to take them off.” — Barbara Kingsolver
“I love Getting a Grip…great positive energy that awakens us to a whole new way to think and to act. Read it now.” —Kathleen Kennedy Townsend, Author, Failing the Faithful
“A terrific book—clear and handy. The author accompanies the reader and the ideas are metabolizeable. It is smart and not intimidating.” —Kaethe Weingarten, author Common Shock, Harvard Medical School
“This book is an absolute must read! Very inspiring and empowering… and makes you want to jump out of your seat and really do something that will better our world. It is a very fast read and has tons of information in it. I feel rejuvenated after reading it! The author shows you that there really is hope in this world and we as individuals are so powerful to make a real difference!” —Lina Musayev, Co-founder, United Students for Fair Trade
(See what other readers had to say–or leave your own response!)
