Page 10 RAIN Aug./Sept. 1980 (CONSUMER) Consumer Sourcebook, 2nd ed., edited by Paul Wasserman and Jean Morgan, 1978, 2 vols., 1,623 pp., $64.00 from: Gale Research Company Book Tower Detroit, MI.48226 Expanded to almo~t three times the size of its first edition (published in 1974) the Consumer Sourcebook is a comprehensive guide to information in almost every area of consumer concern: finance, health, safety, environmental standards, social welfare, and more. Hundreds of governmental and non-governmental agencies are described, together with consumer- . oriented newspaper columns, radio programs, tel~vision shows,.books, and audiovisual materials. The largest section is a directory ot more than 17,000 companies which provide consumer goods and services. Very well organized, concise and clearly written, the Sourcebook is an invaluable resource, both for full-time consumer activists and for individuals with personal ''lemon'' laments. Tell your reference librarian about it. -JF C PERSPECTIVE) Ways of Seeing, John Berger, 1973, $2.50 from: Penguin Books 111q Ambassador Rd. Baltimore, MD 21207 Ways of Seeing was originally a four-part series made for'British television. Only later was it made into a book. It is very short, very readable and full of pictures. The words describe the pictures but not in the empty, stilted style of most art "critics." Berger's words complement his "critique" with his experience of the pictures. John Berger is an art critic, but in a much broader sense. He is an interpreter who recognizes meaning behind the'huge amount of visual media that most of us are assulted by (TV, billboard, magazine & supermarket ads; postcards; newspapers, etc.) I understood the pictures implicitly long before I read the book,. but that kind of understanding ("I don't know anything about art, but I know what I like") doesn't give a person a chance.to respond. Being subject to assault without any defenses is debilitating and oppressive. Berger's writ- •ing is an active reply to our globally common, commercial "culture_,., Visual literacy is an important tool not only for art critic;s. Technology affects our environment by its pictures as well as by its machines, and if a picture is worth a thousand words we need to be able to see very clearly. (The film series is available for rental in 16mm prints, in color, 4 programs of 25 minutes each for $35.00 per program; or as a series for $120.00; from Time-Life Multi-Media, 100 Eisenhower Dr., P.O. Box 644, Paramus, NJ 07652. Berger's other writings include: Art & Revolution, 19{>9, 191 pp., $2.95;About Looking, 1980, 198 pp., $4.95; The Success & Failure of Picasso, 1965, 210 pp., $4.95; all available from Pantheon Books, 201 E. 50th St., New York, NY 10022). -KD (AGRICULTURE) Farmers Markets ofAmerica: A Renaissance, .Robert Sommer, 1980, 94 pp., $6.95 from: • • Capra Press P.O. Box 2068 Santa Barbara, CA 93120 This short but impressive book draws its . strength both from the author's vision, commitment and loye, and from his hard and ·convincing evidence. After a short history of food marketing and the development of consumerism, Sommer makes a strong argument for the social, political and economic benefits of direct farmer's mar- ,kets. "Like any other single measure, it cannot solve all the problems that have developed. On the other hand, the estabHshment of local markets is clearly a pro.: gressive step that can accomplish as much by example as by its tangible benefits to small growers and consumers." While the "fancy" and "large" grades of produce may not be as readily available at a farmer's market as at a large chain store, most shoppers find the quality, diversity and lower prices to be ample compensation: Personal contact, long lost to the streamline process of coiwenience shopping, is essential to the spirit and operation of these markets. "Farmers stand behind their produce literally as they sell it and morally because they grew it." The second half of Farmers Markets is devoted.to the fruits and vegetables themselves: how to choose them, when to buy them, and how to cook them; There is also a helpful chapter on how to organize a market in your own community. In its entirety, this book is an excellent source of information on community markets and the important roles they can and do play. -LS C COMMUNITY) The Help Book by J.L. 1Barkas, 1979, 667 pp., $19.95 hardcover, $9.95 paper, from: Charles Scribner's Sons 597 Fifth Avenue New York, NY10017 How can you sue someone without a lawyer? Who will listen to your complaints about air pollution? Whe~e can you learn about travel services available to people with handicaps? These are the kinds of questions addressed in The Help Book, which is really 52 short directories under one cover, each containing basic information in a particular area of concern: alcoholism, cl\ild·abuse, crime prevention, employment, family planning, etc. With its emphasis on low and no cost services available from public and private agencies, The Help Book can be a valuable first-stop reference for facing many kinds of problems. -JF "When They Close the Factory Gates,lf The Prog,:essive, August 1980, $1.50 from: 408 W. Gorham St. Madiso~, WI 53703 "The 2000 largest [U.S.] firms--about-1 % of all the manufacturers-control 88 % of manufacturing assets and make 90% of the manufacturing profits; the other 99% share 10% of the profits." These guys have it so wrapp~d up that even when they lose money they make money! U.S. Steel, for example, with $261 million in earnings last year, will'also be receiving millions of dollars in tax rebates for 1979. Get this: "the corporation's net.profits will actually exceed its gross profits." The reason? The Internal Revenue Service, the national tax collector, offers "tremendous, often irresistible incentives" to big businesses to shut down plants. Hence, the government has actually encouraged the epidemic of plant closings! Other articles in this set look at the Youngstown situation, problems facing the leadership of the United Auto Workers, and a critique of Time magazine's recent attempt to modernize Social Darwinism by blaming the victims of our economic and energy crises. (In June I attended a terrific conference in Portland on plant closures. "Shuttered Factories, Shattered Lives" was sponsored by the Int'I. Woodworkers of America and several other groups and unions. We hope to be running regular material on developing alternatives to plant closures as we come across it.) - MR
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