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winter reading CHASING MOLECULES: Poisonous Products, Human Health, and the Promise of Green Chemistry by Elizabeth Grossman. Island Press, $26.95. ost of the world relies on chemistry to increase food production, clean our homes, make containers unbreakable and render children’s pajamas infl ammable. But until fairly recently, we had no idea how these chemicals were affecting our bodies and our environment. Many chemicals are known to interfere with physical and environmental health, yet most have never been fully tested for safety. Now, we not only have a much greater understanding of the impact of common household products, but we have the technology to begin designing alternatives. Portland-based journalist Elizabeth Grossman has previously authored High Tech Trash, about hidden toxins in digital devices, and Watershed, an exposé of dams across America. Here, Grossman turns her investigative eye to the revolutionary science underway to bring the world safe, functional products that are free of hazardous materials. Grossman examines the many synthetic chemicals people are exposed to everyday — chemicals used to make sippy cups, cookware, cosmetics, electronics and M sunscreen — and how they travel through air- and waterways, contaminating ecosystems around the globe. In balanced, storytelling language that is based on fact — but never too technical for non-chemists — Grossman illuminates why green chemistry is so important. She interviews the founding fathers of green chemistry, including James Hutchison, a UO chemistry professor and recognized leader in the fi elds of green chemistry in academics and materials manufacturing. The goal of green chemistry is products that are “benign by design,” products that are made from harmless ingredients and do no harm once in use. Grossman effectively reveals not only who is working to make this possible, but why it must become the new norm. — Vanessa Salvia CITADEL OF THE SPIRIT: A Merging of Past and Present Oregon Voices and Stories edited by Matt Love. Nestucca Spit Press, $30. ny good love song, amid its many declarations, contains an accusation. Citadel of the Spirit is a collection of writings about Oregon by Oregonians, past and present. Reprinted newspaper notices (“Meet on the Summit: A Public Call to Form a Mountaineering Club by the Mazamas,” 1894), essays, stories, A constitutions, forgotten histories, sports articles: It’s all Oregon. It’s a love song, but editor Matt Love includes both the good news and the bad news. The good: Oregon’s great! The bad: The Klu Klux Klan was here. Human beings are obsessed with place, the sense, purpose and understanding of it. Citadel of the Spirit is equal parts exuberance and questioning: What exactly is this place we call home? While many of the pieces are along the lines of “Well, about a million years ago, when I was a kid,” pieces like “A Key to the Rains of Benton County” by Kathleen Dean Moore are genius. What is the proper classifi cation for rain that “materializes out of thin air?” Bug spit. However, if you have rain that “falls through rain, the way fear falls through depression,” you’re looking at either “dirty weather” rain, a downpour or “Steelhead rain” depending on other indicators like this: Can you see the rain against the trees, or are the trees invisible thanks to all the rain? Take it in small sips and in years. Skim it. Open it up at the middle. It’s a love song, so listen to it when you’re young and also when you’re old. It will mean different things. — Katie Wilson THE FAR CORNER: Northwestern Views on Land, Life, and Literature by John Daniel. Counterpoint, $25. he Far Corner is an homage to the Pacifi c Northwest, to the interconnectedness of nature and our place in it, to the discovery of self within that T place and to the process of writing itself — how the linkage of ideas, of writing of self and place and history, breeds personal discovery just as surely as engaging with the environment and our natural senses does. A collection of personal essays, some new and some written over the course of Daniel’s career, The Far Corner explores the scope and ecology of Oregon’s rivers, the history of the Blue and Klamath mountain ranges, our addiction to artifi cial light, the morality of clearcutting and the search for solitude, self and communion with place on a solitaire journey across Washington’s beaches. It delves into the history of Ken Kesey, whose acid-trip adventures inspired Daniel’s own foray into psychedelic drugs and whose writing greatly infl uenced him as a young man. And it speaks of the death of Daniel’s mother, the desperation and consequences of his family’s choice to put her through surgery at the end of her life. It speaks of “rootlessness” and “rootedness,” and advocates for both. This is a book full of wandering, meandering ideas, stories and histories, tangents and contradictions, a testament to the complexity of the author’s personal experience and the complexity of the subjects he writes about. Though seemingly disparate in subject, the essays succeed as a whole in conveying the interconnectedness, the wholeness of nature and experience. The Far Corner is at once personal and engaging, with language that evokes power, imagery and personal refl ection. — Katie Kalk Welcome to Our Newest Artist H annah G oldrich Handcrafted Sterling Silver Pendants & Earrings Our family’s best! The freshest milk and ice cream Locally family owned and operated since 1994 115 W 6th Ave 687.7859 Mon-Fri 10-6 Sat 10-5 Starting Nov 29th, open Sun 12-5 Our grandparents started Lochmead Dairy 67 years ago. Today, four generations of our family run our farm, operate our creamery, and sell our milk and ice cream at neighborhood Dari Mart stores. We milk our cows in Junction City, and within 48 hours, the milk is in our stores–now that’s fresh! When you come to a Dari Mart, you’ll always hear a friendly hello. We have something for everyone, and we’re right in your neighborhood. Come see us soon! 67 YEARS ~ 4 GENERATIONS ~ 43 STORES WWW.EUGENEWEEKLY.COM • BLOGS.EUGENEWEEKLY.COM EUGENE WEEKLY DECEMBER 10, 2009 21
