The Battle for Paradise, Naomi Klein
The Battle for Paradise, Naomi Klein
List: $14.95 | Sale: $10.47
Club: $7.47

The Battle for Paradise
Puerto Rico Takes On the Disaster Capitalists

Author: Naomi Klein

Narrator: Erin Bennett

Unabridged: 1 hr 43 min

Format: Digital Audiobook Download

Published: 06/05/2018


Synopsis

In the rubble of Hurricane Maria, Puerto Ricans and ultrarich “Puertopians” are locked in a pitched struggle over how to remake the island.In this vital and startling investigation, New York Times bestselling author and activist Naomi Klein uncovers how the forces of shock politics and disaster capitalism seek to undermine the nation’s radical, resilient vision for a “just recovery.”All royalties from the sale of this book in English and Spanish go directly to JunteGente, a gathering of Puerto Rican organizations resisting disaster capitalism and advancing a fair and healthy recovery for their island. For more information, visit http://juntegente.org.

About Naomi Klein

Naomi Klein is an award-winning journalist, syndicated columnist, documentary filmmaker, and author of the international bestsellers No Logo, The Shock Doctrine: The Rise of Disaster Capitalism, This Changes Everything: Capitalism vs. the Climate, and No Is Not Enough. She is senior correspondent for The Intercept and contributor to the Nation magazine. She is also a Puffin Foundation Writing Fellow at the Nation Institute and her writing appears widely in such publications as the New York Times, Le Monde, and the Guardian. Klein is a member of the board of directors for climate-action group 350.org and one of the organizers behind Canada’s Leap Manifesto (TheLeap.org), a blueprint for a rapid and justice-based transition off fossil fuels. In November 2016 she was awarded Australia’s prestigious Sydney Peace Prize. Her books have been translated into more than thirty languages.

About Erin Bennett

Erin Bennett is an actress, a singer, and a voiceover artist. As an actress, she has performed at numerous theaters, including the Pasadena Playhouse, the Arizona Theatre Company, and the International City Theatre. Her voiceover work includes animation, BBC radio plays, video games, commercials for radio and television, and a wide range of audiobooks, including contemporary fiction, mysteries, science fiction, and romance.


Reviews

Goodreads review by Nina (ninjasbooks) on October 13, 2023

My first book by Klein, but it won’t be the last. I learnt so much about Puerto Rico and the challenges the countries will have to navigate. Brilliant work by Klein.......more

Goodreads review by Ryan on June 09, 2018

Read this book now! It’s only 80 pages long. Shock Doctrine is probably the most important book of the last decade and Naomi Klein one of the most important journalists. This essay documents the shock doctrine unfolding in Puerto Rico which pits a people’s movement for self-determination and long te......more

Goodreads review by Roxanne on October 24, 2018

Read this to get a good snippet of what's going on in PR and to get really mad......more

Goodreads review by Randall on November 24, 2018

Given Naomi’s expertise in charting the rise of disaster capitalism and the shock doctrine, it should come as a relief that she would write this quick book. If you spend 183 days per year (Winter) in Puerto Rico, you can dodge U.S. taxes and live in a white gated community with private schools. Than......more

Goodreads review by Julian on January 18, 2022

This is a book given to me when I joined the Left Book Club. The locals of Puerto Rico take on disaster capitalists. Hurricane Maria caused catastrophic damage to Puerto Rico's infrastructure systems and housing and destroyed much of the commonwealth's electricity grid. It took more than 200 days to r......more


Quotes

“This short audiobook packs as potent a punch as the hurricanes that devastated the island of Puerto Rico in 2017…Narrator Erin Bennett approaches this work in a clear, authoritative voice that reflects the no-nonsense tone of Klein’s words. Bennett takes control immediately, pausing effectively and pacing herself so that we can both understand and analyze the book’s message. Even more memorable, she maintains a measured approach even when the message becomes fiery.” AudioFile

“Hurricane Maria left more than destruction in its wake. There is now a brewing political conflict over how to rebuild Puerto Rico, the subject of Klein’s investigation…On one side are what she calls the ‘disaster capitalists’ looking for a profit, and on the other, local communities.” New York Times

“Fearless necessary reporting…Klein exposes the ‘battle of utopias’ that is currently unfolding in storm-ravaged Puerto Rico.” Junot Díaz, New York Times bestselling author

“A revealing, on-the-ground report that ably shows that the real looters after disaster are not the poor.” Kirkus Reviews

“Lays out the challenges facing Puerto Ricans who seek to transform their island into a democratic polity that serves the people’s interests rather than colonial kleptocracy…A welcome update on the situation in Puerto Rico—one that portends similar battles worldwide as climate change accelerates.” Publishers Weekly

“This book explains, with careful and unbiased reporting, only the efforts of our community activists can answer the paramount question: What type of society do we want to become and who is Puerto Rico for?” Carmen Yulín Cruz, mayor of San Juan, Puerto Rico

“There’s no-one better to tell the story of Hurricane Maria and its global significance than Naomi. In the face of speculation, exploitation ,and climate crisis, this book calls on us to recognize Puerto Rico’s struggle for democracy, justice, and human life itself, as our own.” Ada Colau Bollano, mayor of Barcelona, Spain

“A gripping and timely account of classic ‘shock doctrine’ being perpetrated in Puerto Rico. Naomi Klein chronicles the extraordinary grassroots resistance by the Puerto Rican people against neoliberal privatization and Wall Street greed in the aftermath of the island’s financial meltdown, of hurricane devastation, and of Washington’s imposition of an outside control board over the most important US colony.” Juan González, cohost of Democracy Now! and author of Harvest of Empire: A History of Latinos in America


Awards

  • #1 Amazon bestseller
  • New York Times Pick