Archive - February 11, 2013

The Price of Justice: A True Story of Greed and Corruption is a story of corporate corruption so far-reaching and devastating it could have been written a hundred years ago by Ida Tarbell or Lincoln Steffens. And as Laurence Leamer (Nepal 1964-66) demonstrates in this captivating tale, because it’s true, it’s scarier than fiction. This nonfiction legal thriller traces the fourteen-year struggle of two lawyers to bring the most powerful coal baron in American history, Don Blankenship, to justice. Don Blankenship, head of Massey Energy since the early 1990s, ran an industry that provides nearly half of America’s electric power. But wealth and influence weren’t enough for Blankenship and his company, as they set about destroying corporate and personal rivals, challenging the Constitution, purchasing the West Virginia judiciary, and willfully disregarding safety standards in the company’s mines-in which scores died unnecessarily. As Blankenship hobnobbed with a West Virginia Supreme Court . . .

The RPCV writers who served in China are now seeing their books published in China. Recently River Town (Peter Hessler 1996-98) book on his tour was published on the mainland. In less than a year, it has sold almost as many copies as it sold in the US since it came out in 2001. According to Peter, “Chinese are eager readers of foreign works, and especially of literature, social science texts and academic collections. Translated books account for a huge slice of the market, and domestic writers often take inspiration from them. Maybe this is the fourth goal — bringing a Peace Corps view of the host country back to the host country.” The publisher is also bringing Peter back to China to tour — something that the US publisher has not done. Published by Shanghai Translation Publishing House, River Town has 150,000 copies in print and is described to the Chinese . . .