Karen Piper

I was unfamiliar with the name China Lake prior to reading this memoir and now I can place it in the chronology of WWII and the Cold War. Recounting her family's experiences working for the military facility at China Lake, Karen Piper also provides a brief history of the Cold War and how the creation and stockpiling of weapons impacted her own family. The story goes right up to today, with the author exploring how the enemies have changed in America's wars, but the weapons have evolved much more slowly. This memoir manages to both capture something from the spirit of the past and yet be timely for today.… (mer)

I received a free copy of this e-book from the publisher (via NetGalley) in exchange for an honest review.

I wanted this book as soon as I saw the title. If I ever wrote a book about my passion for Cape Canaveral, I would have used that title. By the end of the book, I felt the title was used because it sounds good, not because it accuratly reflects what happens in the book.

I am fascinated by the history of missile test sites, especially the oldest ones which emerged in the 40's and 50's. I knew of China Lake's test area, but I hadn't dug too much into it's history (I prefer the air breathing missiles and ICBMs). This book seemed like the perfect introduction.

While both the author and her parents worked at China Lake in various capacities, it felt like very little of the book was about what went on there. The book is more the story of the author's life, including various boyfriends, her brief job in the payroll department, going to college, getting married and her father's descent into Alzheimer's. I'm sorry, I got this book to hear about life in China Lake, not about trying to sell Amway.

At one point, she mentions the abandoned Lark missile ramp. Lark missiles were also tested at Cape Canaveral - but there was no ramp involved. I want to know more! But alas, the author has moved on to something else.

I suppose this book would be good if you liked memoirs of non-celebreties. It was definitly not what I hoped it would be.… (mer)

Karen Piper is suggesting that it might already be too late.

And she’s got a point. There are parts of California, right now, where no water is available from safe, public sources. People are purchasing bottled water to drink and filling tanks—at a price—for hygiene use.

In The Price of Thirst, Karen Piper warns that this isn’t the drought-driven anomaly we might think, at least not on a planet-wide scale. Not only are we facing diminishing reserves of clean, fresh water, those that we do have are being claimed by private corporations who have every intent to charge us for what we once dipped from our own wells—and they’re being aided in this by the World Bank and the International Monetary Fund.

Her main focus is on the increasing privatization of water supplies and the mindset that views it as a commodity to be profited from rather than a basic need to be shared. With precise reporting and a wealth of cited sources, Piper has written an incredibly necessary book. Read it now, before we’re all forced to buy our water from Nestlé—or go thirsty.

Reviewed on Lit/Rant: www.litrant.tumblr.com… (mer)