Oil

Object Lessons is a series of short, beautifully designed books about the hidden lives of ordinary things. Black gold. Liquid sunlight. Texas tea. Oil remains the ur-commodity of our global era, having been distilled from ancient algae and marine life to turn modernity’s wheels. Wars are fought over it. Some communities are displaced by its extraction, so that others may reap its benefits. But despite its heated history, few will ever see oil on the ground. Shrouded within a labyrinth of oil fields, pipelines, and manufacturies, it tends to be known only through its magical effects: the thrill of the road, the euphoria of flight, and the metamorphic allure of everything from vinyl records to celluloid film and synthetic clothing. Michael Tondre shows how hydrocarbon became today’s pre-eminent power. How did oil come to structure selfhood and social relations? And to what extent is oil not only a commercial product but a cultural one—something shaped by widely imagined dreams and desires? Amid a warming world unleashed by fossil fuels, oil appears as a rich resource for thinking about histories of globalization and technology no less than the energetic underpinnings of literature, film, and art. Object Lessons is published in partnership with an essay series in The Atlantic.

Object Lessons is a series of short, beautifully designed books about the hidden lives of ordinary things. Black gold. Liquid sunlight. Texas tea. Oil remains the ur-commodity of our global era, having been distilled from ancient algae and marine life to turn modernity’s wheels. Wars are fought over it. Some communities are displaced by its extraction, so that others may reap its benefits. But despite its heated history, few will ever see oil on the ground. Shrouded within a labyrinth of oil fields, pipelines, and manufacturies, it tends to be known only through its magical effects: the thrill of the road, the euphoria of flight, and the metamorphic allure of everything from vinyl records to celluloid film and synthetic clothing. Michael Tondre shows how hydrocarbon became today’s pre-eminent power. How did oil come to structure selfhood and social relations? And to what extent is oil not only a commercial product but a cultural one—something shaped by widely imagined dreams and desires? Amid a warming world unleashed by fossil fuels, oil appears as a rich resource for thinking about histories of globalization and technology no less than the energetic underpinnings of literature, film, and art. Object Lessons is published in partnership with an essay series in The Atlantic.

The Bronze Age. The Iron Age. The Age of Oil. The Stone Age didn't end for want of stones. Oil follows the lives of one woman and her daughter in an epic, hurtling collision of empire, history and family. Ella Hickson's explosive play drills deep into the world's relationship with this finite resource. It is 'the single most gloriously audacious piece of playwriting of the last few years' ( Evening Standard ) and won the Catherine Johnson Award for Best Play in 2013. Oil premiered at the Almeida Theatre, London, in October 2016, in a production directed by Carrie Cracknell and starring Anne-Marie Duff.

The Bronze Age. The Iron Age. The Age of Oil. The Stone Age didn't end for want of stones. Oil follows the lives of one woman and her daughter in an epic, hurtling collision of empire, history and family. Ella Hickson's explosive play drills deep into the world's relationship with this finite resource. It is 'the single most gloriously audacious piece of playwriting of the last few years' ( Evening Standard ) and won the Catherine Johnson Award for Best Play in 2013. Oil premiered at the Almeida Theatre, London, in October 2016, in a production directed by Carrie Cracknell and starring Anne-Marie Duff.

In this fully revised and updated edition, Vaclav Smil reveals everything there is to know about nature's most sought-after resource 'There is no author whose books I look forward to more than Vaclav Smil.' Bill Gates Oil is the lifeblood of the modern world. Without it, there would be no planes, no plastic, no exotic produce, and a global political landscape few would recognise. Humanity’s dependence upon oil looks set to continue for decades to come, but what is it? Fully updated and packed with fascinating facts to fuel dinner party debate, Professor Vaclav Smil's Oil: A Beginner's Guide explains all matters related to the ‘black stuff’, from its discovery in the earth right through to the controversy that surrounds it today.

Oil is the lifeblood of the modern world. Without it, there would be no planes, no plastic, no exotic produce, and a global political landscape few would recognise. Humanity's dependence upon oil looks set to continue for decades to come, but what is it? Fully updated and packed with fascinating facts to fuel dinner party debate, Professor Vaclav Smil's Oil: A Beginner's Guide explains all matters related to the 'black stuff', from its discovery in the earth right through to the controversy that surrounds it today.

'A classic tale of greed and corruption' Erich Schlosser, author of Fast Food Nation Upton Sinclair's searing, prophetic indictment of fossil fuels, and the inspiration for the film There Will Be Blood Based on the oil scandals of the Harding administration, Upton Sinclair's novel Oil! burst into the literary limelight amid soaring petroleum profits and gaping inequalities in 1927. Whether telling the story of the land, the ordinary civilian, or the heirs to oil fortune, Sinclair skilfully paints a vivid picture of the effects of corporate corruption, greed and how the so called 'American Century' was born. By turns a gripping family saga and anti-capitalist warning, Oil! ranks among the most important critiques of fossil energy ever written. An exhilarating novel, which anticipated how fossil fuels would shape the dilemmas of our present, Oil! looks toward a greener, more inclusive, and altogether more livable world yet to come.

'A classic tale of greed and corruption' Erich Schlosser, author of Fast Food Nation Upton Sinclair's searing, prophetic indictment of fossil fuels, and the inspiration for the film There Will Be Blood Based on the oil scandals of the Harding administration, Upton Sinclair's novel Oil! burst into the literary limelight amid soaring petroleum profits and gaping inequalities in 1927. Whether telling the story of the land, the ordinary civilian, or the heirs to oil fortune, Sinclair skilfully paints a vivid picture of the effects of corporate corruption, greed and how the so called 'American Century' was born. By turns a gripping family saga and anti-capitalist warning, Oil! ranks among the most important critiques of fossil energy ever written. An exhilarating novel, which anticipated how fossil fuels would shape the dilemmas of our present, Oil! looks toward a greener, more inclusive, and altogether more livable world yet to come.

The classic novel that inspired the Academy award-winning film, There Will Be Blood. Penguin Books is proud to now be the sole publisher of Oil! , the classic 1927 novel by Upton Sinclair. After writing The Jungle , his scathing indictment of the meatpacking industry, Sinclair turned his sights on the early days of the California oil industry in a highly entertaining story featuring a cavalcade of characters including senators, oil magnets, Hollywood film starlets, and a crusading evangelist. This lively and panoramic book, which was recently cited by David Denby in the New Yorker as being Sinclair's "most readable" novel, is now the inspiration for the Paramount Vantage major motion picture, There Will Be Blood . It is the long-awaited film from Paul Thomas Anderson, one of the most admired filmmakers working today whose previous movies, Boogie Nights and Magnolia were both multiple Academy Award nominees. The movie stars Oscar-winner Daniel Day-Lewis ( Gangs of New York , My Left Foot ) and Paul Dano ( Little Miss Sunshine ). Paramount Vantage will be releasing the film in New York and Los Angeles on December 26, 2007 and go nationwide in January. This is the same company responsible for Babel and A Mighty Heart and the current releases, Into the Wild, Margot at the Wedding , and The Kite Runner . As wars rage on in the oil region and as anxiety over natural resources rise, the subject of this book, which celebrates its 80th anniversary in 2007, is more timely than ever.

The classic novel that inspired the Academy award-winning film, There Will Be Blood. Penguin Books is proud to now be the sole publisher of Oil! , the classic 1927 novel by Upton Sinclair. After writing The Jungle , his scathing indictment of the meatpacking industry, Sinclair turned his sights on the early days of the California oil industry in a highly entertaining story featuring a cavalcade of characters including senators, oil magnets, Hollywood film starlets, and a crusading evangelist. This lively and panoramic book, which was recently cited by David Denby in the New Yorker as being Sinclair's "most readable" novel, is now the inspiration for the Paramount Vantage major motion picture, There Will Be Blood . It is the long-awaited film from Paul Thomas Anderson, one of the most admired filmmakers working today whose previous movies, Boogie Nights and Magnolia were both multiple Academy Award nominees. The movie stars Oscar-winner Daniel Day-Lewis ( Gangs of New York , My Left Foot ) and Paul Dano ( Little Miss Sunshine ). Paramount Vantage will be releasing the film in New York and Los Angeles on December 26, 2007 and go nationwide in January. This is the same company responsible for Babel and A Mighty Heart and the current releases, Into the Wild, Margot at the Wedding , and The Kite Runner . As wars rage on in the oil region and as anxiety over natural resources rise, the subject of this book, which celebrates its 80th anniversary in 2007, is more timely than ever.