Glass, Paper, Beans: Revolutions on the Nature and Value of Ordinary Things

by Leah Hager Cohen

Book Overview

Once upon a time we knew the origins of things: what piece of earth the potato on our dinner plate came from, which well our water was dipped from, who cobbled our shoes, and whose cow provided the... This description may be from another edition of this product.

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 038549257X
• ISBN13: 9780385492577
• Release Date: August 1998
• Publisher: Crown Publishing Group (NY)
• Length: 320 Pages
• Weight: 0.60 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.8" x 5.6" x 8.7"

Customer Reviews

Great book! Very fascinating!

Leah Cohen is a great author, and a wonderful professor. I thoroughly enjoyed reading this book. It is detailed, thorough, and thought-provoking.

A Story for Everything

Glass, Paper, Beans is one of the best non-fiction books I have ever read. I have just completed it for the second time. Each time I read it, it opens my eyes a little more to the idea that to everything, there is a story. We as adults are often like little children who think milk comes from a store, having little or no concept of the work it took to get it there. It is comforting in a way to know that I am connected to so many people through the ordinary things of life, and those people lives are complex, creative, and hold a beauty all their own. I enjoyed Cohen's insight into three lives and how they interacted with initial stages of each product, bringing details of their private lives into play, weaving the two together. Cohen's book brings with it a greater appreciation for the ordinary things in my life. I know that people are behind them, not a new revelation, but now brought to life.

You'll never look at paper, glass and coffee the same!

This is one of those books that resonates with me yearsafter having read it. The book's starting point is the author sitting in a cafe drinking coffee in a glass mug, reading a paper. She realizes that she has no idea where the stuff she is surrounded by comes from. This book answers the question in the beautiful prose I have come to expect from this gifted writer. The story of each item is told from historic and personal viewpoints. This is an essential book!

An absorbing look at our relationship to the things we use.

I loved this book! The author starts with a simple train of thought and follows it on a sort of quest to investigate the "stories" behind everyday objects. In the course of her investigations she examines myths, histories and philosophies surrounding these things. The book is kept from becoming dry by the vivid pictures she makes of the people she meets in her investigations. Beautifully, almost poetically written, she uses simple language to convey some very complex ideas. ...A book to make you think.