Read this on bookring last year and added it to my wishlist as a result - thanks very muchly to causticangel for fulfilling the wish!

This has been reviewed over on my book blog, all comments welcomed!

RELEASE NOTES:

Sending in return for Benjamin Franklin's biography.

I received this a couple of months ago and I just realized I hadn't logged it in! I promise I'll read it soon.

This is a fascinating examination of three types of "underground" markets in the U.S.: marijuana, immigration and pornography. Schlosser examines each in minute detail, painting a fascinating picture of these complex worlds, while questioning why we just don't embrace them. I learned a lot. One clear conclusion: We should decriminalize marijuana! Now. . this is on to brewski in Toronto, who hopefully won't wait as long as I did to read it.

Thanks so much Dreamer2. I will try my best not to take too long to read this because it sounds very interesting.

Well I took Dreamer2's advice and did not wait too long to read this book. I must say that I am glad that I got to this quickly because I found the subject matter quite interesting and illuminating. The treatment of immigration and marijuana were of particular interest to me since I felt some personal connection to each; immigration because I was born and raised in California and saw some of what the author mentioned first-hand, and marijuana because I attended UC Berkeley :)

After reading this book, my belief that marijuana should be decriminalized is even more certain. Living in a country where there is such an alcohol culture, I believe that marijuana is no more dangerous than legal drugs such as alcohol and nicotine.

The chapters on immigration were a bit sad as the author laid out in black and white how thoroughly the US (and other developed nations) stand on the shoulders of developing nations to reach the heights that they do.

I didn't find the chapters on pornography all that interesting surprisingly. Maybe I was expecting something a bit more titillating...

All in all this was an enjoyable read.

CONTROLLED RELEASE NOTES:

Mailed off to my younger brother during our December trip to Erie, PA.