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It's time we moved from commuting to community and Superbia!, a MOTHER EARTH NEWS Book for Wiser Living, tells you how. An inspiring book about connecting with our neighbors, connecting our communities to the ecosystem, and connecting our everyday lives to our search for quality and joy.

The book is full of practical ideas for creating more socially, economically, and environmentally sustainable neighborhoods. It is about remaking suburban and urban neighborhoods to serve people better and to reduce human impact on the environment.

The authors first trace the history of the suburbs, showing how they fail to meet many peoples' needs. They then describe how existing neighborhoods can be transformed, offering cohousing and new urbanist communities as examples. The reader is then guided through the transformation of a fictitious neighborhood that adopts the authors' 31 steps. Ideas for the blossoming of the suburb are described in order of difficulty, from easy to boldest, including: the creation of a neighborhood newsletter to foster a sense of neighborhood identity and cooperation; regular community dinners, discussion groups, and babysitting co-ops; the removal of backyard fences to create park-like spaces for community play areas, or gardens; retrofitting homes for energy efficiency, and installing community energy systems.

Examples from all over North America and beyond provide real-life proof that citizen planners can create superbia! And the most comprehensive resource listing imaginable puts all the tools needed at your fingertips.

Well-illustrated and reader-friendly, Superbia! is written primarily for the millions who live in urban areas or existing suburbs. It will also be of major interest to environmentalists, planners, and all who want to create a more humane and nurturing lifestyle.

About the Contributors:

Dan Chiras is the father of two boys, and the author of over 20 books on environmental issues and sustainability. He teaches courses on renewable energy, green building and sustainability at Colorado College. His free time is spent mountain biking, camping, canoeing, kayaking, playing music, and gardening with his boys.

Dave Wann worked with the EPA for a decade and is now a writer and video producer. Widely published in magazines, he is coauthor of the successful book, Affluenza: The All-Consuming Epidemic and two other books about design, as well as six video programs on community.

Today, more than ever before, our society is seeking ways to live more conscientiously. To help bring you the very best inspiration and information about greener, more sustainable lifestyles, MOTHER EARTH NEWS is recommending books to its readers. For more than 30 years, MOTHER EARTH NEWS has been North America’s “Original Guide to Living Wisely,” creating books and magazines for people with a passion for self-reliance and a desire to live in harmony with nature.

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CLEARANCE ITEM. PREVIOUS RETAIL PRICE WAS $16.95 AVAILABLE ONLY WHILE SUPPLIES LAST!

This revealing book is the first in-depth journalistic investigation into the growing Christian Rock subculture. Profiles such successful Christian rock bands as P.O.D., Switchfoot, Creed, Sixpence None the Richer and more.

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CLEARANCE ITEM. PREVIOUS RETAIL PRICE WAS $21.95 AVAILABLE ONLY WHILE SUPPLIES LAST!

In this 232-page book, author Annalee Newitz argues that the slimy zombies and gore-soaked murderers who have stormed through American film and literature over the past century embody the violent contradictions of capitalism.

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CLEARANCE ITEM. PREVIOUS RETAIL PRICE WAS $15.95 AVAILABLE ONLY WHILE SUPPLIES LAST!

The lives and conditions depicted in this 220-page book are a strong call to action for all of us to respond to this devastating disease with compassion and determination. It puts the AIDS pandemic into a cultural context.

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CLEARANCE ITEM. PREVIOUS RETAIL PRICE WAS $15.95 AVAILABLE ONLY WHILE SUPPLIES LAST!

Hal Niedzviecki has a blunt message for the army of tattoo and piercing enthusiasts, bloggers, skateboard warriors, and anyone else walking around with the smug certainty that they are one of a kind: Individuality is the new conformity.

Niedzviecki’s meditations touch on everything from designer religions to webcasts, from reality TV to the endless “Everybody Is A Star” platitudes of global pop culture. He unearths the amateur underground and shines a spotlight on the self-help industry, Hollywood, and mainstream media. The result is a smart, witty, and impassioned argument that shatters the you-can-do-anything pop myth and exposes the paradox of individualism.

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This book exposes the hypocrisy of major food companies like Kraft, Coca-Cola, and McDonalds, that are staging massive PR campaigns to look like they are "part of the solution" while they simultaneously lobby against sound nutrition policies.

Concerned Americans are finally beginning to ask: Who is to blame for the growing public health crisis of obesity and diet-related illnesses, especially among children? Is the junk food industry at fault, or is it all just a matter of personal and parental responsibility? How can we fight back with workable solutions?

Appetite for Profit unveils food industry lobbying, front groups, and other tactics that purposefully undermine nutrition policy in schools and elsewhere. It explains how to see through the corporate rhetoric that seeks to control the debate. It also explains how to fight back by offering reliable resources on how to get involved.

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CLEARANCE ITEM. PREVIOUS RETAIL PRICE WAS $24.95 AVAILABLE ONLY WHILE SUPPLIES LAST!

In this rare, behind-the-scenes look at what goes on in hospitals across the country, a longtime medical insider and international authority on childbirth assesses the flawed American maternity care system, powerfully demonstrating how it fails to deliver safe, effective care for both mothers and babies. Written for mothers and fathers, obstetricians, nurses, midwives, scientists, insurance professionals, and anyone contemplating having a child, this passionate exposé documents how, in the most expensive maternity care system in the world, women have lost control over childbirth and what the disturbing results of this phenomenon have been. Born in the USA examines issues including midwifery and the safety of out-of-hospital birth, how the process of becoming a doctor can adversely affect both practitioners and their patients, and why there has been a rise in the use of risky but doctor-friendly interventions, including the use of Cytotec, a drug that has not been approved by the FDA for pregnant women. Most importantly, this gripping investigation, supported by many troubling personal stories, explores how women can reclaim the childbirth experience for the betterment of themselves and their children.

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Born in 1946 in Cincinnati, Ohio, Robert Shetterly graduated in 1969 from Harvard College with a degree in English Literature. While at Harvard he took a couple of courses in drawing which changed the direction of his creative life — from the written word to the visual images. Also, during this time, he was very active in Civil Rights and in the Anti-Vietnam War movement.

Nearly three years ago, channeling his grief from the tragic events of Sept. 11, 2001, Shetterly began painting a series of memorable Americans whose noteworthy written or spoken word have made an impact on our culture.

Shetterly's book contains 50 portraits, combined with thought-provoking quotes and concise biographies that offer a powerful view into what it means to be American, to hold American values, and to be part of a democratic society.

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We're destroying the planet, undermining happiness, and clinging to an unsustainable economy. Our obsessive pursuit of wealth isn't working. But there's another way. Less can be More. Throughout history wise people have argued that we need to live more simply — that only by limiting outer wealth can we have inner wealth.

With Less is More, editors Cecile Andrews and Wanda Urbanska have put together a compelling collection of works by people who have been writing about simplicity for decades, including Bill McKibben, Sarah Susanka, John de Graaf, Bryan Welch and many more.

These thinkers bring us a new vision of less: less stuff, less work, less stress, less debt. A life with less becomes a life with more: more time, more satisfaction, more balance, more security. When we have too much, we savor nothing. When we choose less, we regain our life and can think and feel deeply. Ultimately, a life of less connects us with one true source of happiness: being a part of a caring community.

About the Authors:

Cecile Andrews is the author of Circle of Simplicity and Slow is Beautiful and co-founder of Phiney EcoVillage. She has her doctorate in education from Stanford University.

Wanda Urbanska is producer and host of Simple Living with Wanda Urbanska. She is author or co-author of numerous books, including Simple Living and Nothing's Too Small to Make a Difference.

Recommended Product for Wiser Living: Today, more than ever before, our society is seeking ways to live more conscientiously. To help bring you the very best inspiration and information about greener, more sustainable lifestyles, MOTHER EARTH NEWS is recommending books and products to its readers. For nearly 40 years, MOTHER EARTH NEWS has been North America’s “Original Guide to Living Wisely,” creating books and magazines for people with a passion for self-reliance and a desire to live in harmony with nature.