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Title: Tragic Indifference: One Man's Battle With the Auto Industry over the Dangers of Suvs by Adam Penenberg ISBN: 0-06-009058-8 Publisher: HarperBusiness Pub. Date: 11 November, 2003 Format: Hardcover Volumes: 1 List Price(USD): $25.95 |
Average Customer Rating: 4.33 (15 reviews)
Rating: 5
Summary: Tragic Indifference is a must read for all Grisham fans
Comment: I am not the type of person who typically reads a book and is so moved that I rush to amazon to write a review. Tragic Indifference, however, gave me no other choice. A factual book about the Ford/Firestone fiasco and the very real life and death consequences people suffered and continue to suffer due to corporate negligence and greed.
The difference between Penenberg's novel and Grisham's renowned legal novels is that, unfortunately, Penenberg's story is true. This book is on my Holiday list for all the Grisham fans I know. A quick read, this book left me appalled, upset and, as all well-written novels should, informed.
Penenberg, a former investigative reporter, and Tab Turner, the lawyer, should be applauded for giving a voice to the victims who have suffered injury and death due to the growing power and greed of corporate America.
Rating: 5
Summary: Best non-fiction account since A Civil Action
Comment: I found Tragic Indifference to be a gripping and eye-opening account of corporate greed let loose by the deregulation of America's automotive industry. Author Penenberg, a rare example of the near extinct breed of the "investigative journalist" paints a harrowing picture of the utter lack of safety in the design of Ford's SUVs, and the company's shocking disregard for human life. Every person driving an SUV needs to read this book for their own safety and that of their families. I agree wholeheartedly with the review in "Mother Jones": "This gripping account of the Ford-Firestone debacle has all the elements of a Hollywood legal thriller - so it's no surprise that a film adaptation starring Michael Douglas is already in the works. The Victim, Donna Baily, is a single mother who became a quadriplegic after an SUV crash. Her lawyer, Tab Turner, is an affable cruisader, part Abicis Finch part Ralph Nader. Ford and Firestone meanwhile, implausibly deny any responsibilty until the bitter end. The little guy wins, of course, Bailey get $27 million in legal settlements and forces Ford lawyers to visit her at her hospital bed and apologize..."
Carmen Kordas, New York City, USA
Rating: 3
Summary: Passionate telling of the Explorer rollover issue
Comment: It is heart rending to read about the lives torn apart in these horrible accidents. Mr. Penenberg writes effectively and persuasively about the pain, loss, and struggle of those injured and also the pain and struggle of their loved ones. However, his emotional style, while effective in producing sympathetic emotions, in the end undermines the case he is trying to make. Not that the case is necessarily wrong. It is just that he does not really prove it beyond an emotional conviction.
He does not use his journalistic detachment to let both sides speak and let the preponderance of the evidence fall where it may. He wants to convince us that Ford is wrong (and I am not saying they are or aren't) and that the lawyers are good. A couple of examples about the lawyers: Early in the book he introduces Tab Turner has having a private jet, but not a flashy one - the author calls it a Plymouth with wings. A few pages later he reveals it to be a Cessna Citation. This is a very nice jet and Turner is a very very rich man who for all his protestations of not caring about fees gathers them by the truckload. And it isn't until the second half of the book that we are shown the fighting over fees and the skullduggery in getting the client to unwittingly sign a new contingency fee arrangement without her healthy caregivers around. It is sickening.
But we all love our own lawyers when they help and protect us (as we should), and we think the other guy's lawyers are scum (unless they lose). That is the way it goes. And friends eventually become targets of suits in the name of justice. Again, it is hard to take, but it happens.
I believe that the book would have been stronger if he would have actually presented both sides of this issue fairly and completely. While the emotions of the case would then be a bit more confused, the reader would be better equipped to make a fair and clearer judgment about the case rather than the one the author wants you to make.
We all despise corporate decisions that expose people to death and injury to save a few dollars or because of carelessness and callous disregard. But we also despise attorneys making huge fees from tragically injured clients and stepping on endless numbers of people, justice, and truth to claim those fees. It isn't that this is a bad book. Rather, it could have been stronger by being more objective. Almost certainly, Ford and Firestone would not have been very forthcoming for interviews. However, when I was reading I kept hoping for more complete information about the accidents from multiple perspectives. The book is worth reading if you are interested in this story, but I could have used less direction from the author on how I was supposed to feel and more information about the facts - not just the defense lawyers' arguments.
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Title: High and Mighty: SUVs--The World's Most Dangerous Vehicles and How They Got That Way by Keith Bradsher ISBN: 1586481231 Publisher: PublicAffairs Pub. Date: 17 September, 2002 List Price(USD): $28.00 |
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Title: The End of Detroit: How the Big Three Lost Their Grip on the American Car Market by Micheline Maynard ISBN: 0385507690 Publisher: Currency Pub. Date: 23 September, 2003 List Price(USD): $24.95 |
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Title: Taken for a Ride: Detroit's Big Three and the Politics of Air Pollution by Jack Doyle ISBN: 1568581475 Publisher: Four Walls Eight Windows Pub. Date: 15 January, 2000 List Price(USD): $22.00 |
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Title: Triangle: The Fire That Changed America by David Von Drehle ISBN: 0871138743 Publisher: Atlantic Monthly Press Pub. Date: 01 August, 2003 List Price(USD): $25.00 |
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Title: Making Dough : The 12 Secret Ingredients of Krispy Kreme's Sweet Success by Kirk Kazanjian, Amy Joyner ISBN: 0471432091 Publisher: Wiley Pub. Date: 17 October, 2003 List Price(USD): $24.95 |
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