Synopses & Reviews
In 2000, Tom Zoellner purchased a diamond engagement ring and proposed. His girlfriend said, "yes" and then, suddenly, walked out of his life making Tom the owner of a used engagement ring. Instead of hitting the self-help shelves of his local bookstore, he hit the road travelling to diamond mines in Africa, Canada, India, Brazil and Russia to discover the true worth of this shining gem. He travelled to Japan to understand how diamonds were linked with engagements and delved into the history of our own American romance with the diamond ring. He gained entry to DeBeers, the London diamond merchants. He visited shopping mall jewellers with starry-eyed couples. Through all of his travels, he searched for an answer to the question "How has one stone created empires, ruined lives, inspired lust and emptied wallets throughout history?" A diamond version of Susan Orleans's
The Orchid Thief, Tom Zoellner's
The Heartless Stone is a journey to the cold heart of the world's most unyielding gem.
An American Library Association Notable Book of the Year When he proposed to his girlfriend, Tom Zoellner gave what every American man is supposed to have at such a timea diamond engagement ring. But when the relationship broke apart a few months before the wedding, he was left with a used diamond ring that began to haunt him. Zoellner looked harder at the stone, and the consequent fascination sent him around the world.
He traveled to the mines of Africa where the smuggling of blood diamonds” is an everyday affair, to Japan where the ancient wedding ritual had been completely reshaped to accommodate diamonds, to the barrens of the Arctic Circle where geologists and drillers risk their lives for the next big jackpot. Zoellner listened to the starving victims of African war zones, the child diamond polishers of India who labor for pennies, the luckless miners of the Brazilian backcountry, and the chemists in Siberia who discovered how to create perfect diamonds from scratch in three days. He gained access to the London headquarters of the De Beers cartel, the secretive global colossus that has dominated the industry for more than century and permanently carved the phrase a diamond is forever” on the psyche. He saw cultures that have been permanently altered and societies that have changed direction at the first sign of diamond lust. Zoellners journeypart investigative report, part startling travelogueculminates back home in America, with a surprising conclusion about this stone that goes to the heart of what it means to be alive.
Across fourteen nations and six continents, the empty mythology of the diamond drew him into a world in which a piece of carbon is made to breathe with the profound intimacies of our own histories. Sparked by his obsession with the diamond that changed his life, Zoellner searches for the answer to the question, How has one stone created empires, ruined lives, inspired lust and emptied wallets through history?” An adventure story in the tradition of Susan Orleans The Orchid Thief, The Heartless Stone is a voyage into the cold heart of the worlds most unyielding gem.
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"Zoellner spans several continents to discover all that is embodied in a diamond, encountering miners, smugglers, geologists, and government officials; assessing scientific, political, and philosophical realities; and separating truth from myth....The end result? A gem." Library Journal
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"Lives up in every way to the power of its almost magical subject." Kirkus Reviews
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"With a sharp narrative style and wealth of detail, The Heartless Stone cuts through the sparkle and marketing to show us that a rock is what you make of it." St. Petersburg Times
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"Zoellner...interlaces lively reporting with a narrative of the ring returned by his ex-fiancee. Ultimately his Heartless Stone is a search for meaning that finds none, save a mythology of the diamond placed upon it by those with the most to gain." Portland Oregonian
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"A dazzling display of intrepid reporting." Entertainment Weekly
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"Riveting...a fascinating story." The Arizona Republic
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"The Heartless Stone is like a diamond itself: clear, brilliant, and sharp as can be. Tom Zoellner has been everywhere and seen everything in the world of diamonds, and has come back with extraordinary stories of how this humble stone drives men to madness, deceit, corruption, and cruelty." David Plotz, Deputy Editor of Slate magazine and author of The Genius Factory: The Curious History of the Nobel Prize Sperm Bank
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"This wonderful book takes us to the heart of the meaning of life and for many of us this heart beats in a cold gem that can slow the speed of light and whisper love with dollar signs. Diamonds mean so much because they are empty of any meaning save our hungers. My God, I would do nothing but read if all books were this honest and clean and true." Charles Bowden, Contributing editor of Esquire, and author of Blood Orchid: An Unnatural History of America
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"Tom Zoellner's The Heartless Stone is a bright gem a brilliant collection of interwoven profiles, travel pieces, reportage and the memory of a romance that must have been harder than any rock. A smart man would skip the mall jewelry and just give The Heartless Stone to his fiancee. A smart woman would be happy to have it." Denis Boyles, author of African Lives
Synopsis
Uncovering the truth about diamonds, The Heartless Stone is a journey to the cold heart of the world's most unyielding gem.
Synopsis
The Heartless Stone: A Journey Through the World of Diamonds, Deceit and Desire unmasks the fascinating history behind America's favorite gemstone. Tom Zoellner takes you on an unforgettable journey through six continents from the deadly mines and smuggling rings of Africa to mining camps above the Arctic Circle to India's polishing mills where teenage children cut stones that eventually find their way to the shopping malls of America.
How did this relatively common mineral come to signify love and eternal promises? Why are diamonds so unnaturally expensive yet so coveted? Why do so many risk their lives and integrity to acquire them? The answers will surprise, intrigue and disturb you, as Zoellner looks into his own powerful fascination with the diamond ring left behind from his broken engagement. The Heartless Stone goes beyond investigative reporting and explores the complicated regions of the human heart that make the diamond empire possible.
Synopsis
The first book to offer a panoramic and unflinching look at the modern diamond industry,
The Heartless Stone is a journey across six continents to uncover the secrets behind one of our most luxurious and costly status symbols.
The book takes you inside illegal mines in Brazil, diamond smuggling rings in Africa, exploration rigs above the Arctic Circle, the sweltering polishing shops of India. You will meet De Beers executives in London, high-tech tunnel drillers in Australia, advertising gurus in Japan, starving soldiers in Angola, chemists in Siberia, dealers in Belgium. They are all part of a vast economy which supports the most sustained, expensive and successful advertising campaign in history.
Diamonds are not particularly rare in nature. Nor do they have any intrinsic value. So how did they become the birdcages for our deepest feelings of romantic love and commitment? The answers will surprise you, as this book takes a probing journey around the globe and into the human heart.
Synopsis
An American Library Association Notable Book
When he proposed to his girlfriend, Tom Zoellner gave what is expected of every American man--a diamond engagement ring. But when the relationship broke apart, he was left with a used diamond that began to haunt him. His obsession carried him around the globe; from the "blood diamond" rings of Africa; to the sweltering polishing factories of India; to mines above the Arctic Circle; to illegal diggings in Brazil; to the London headquarters of De Beers, the secretive global colossus that has dominated the industry for more than a century and permanently carved the phrase "A diamond is forever" on the psyche. An adventure story in the tradition of Susan Orlean's The Orchid Thief, The Heartless Stone is a voyage into the cold heart of the world's most unyielding gem.
Synopsis
In 2000, Tom Zoellner purchased a diamond engagement ring and proposed. His girlfriend said, "yes" and then, suddenly, walked out of his life making Tom the owner of a used engagement ring. Instead of hitting the self-help shelves of his local bookstore, he hit the road travelling to diamond mines in Africa, Canada, India, Brazil and Russia to discover the true worth of this shining gem. He travelled to Japan to understand how diamonds were linked with engagements and delved into the history of our own American romance with the diamond ring. He gained entry to DeBeers, the London diamond merchants. He visited shopping mall jewellers with starry-eyed couples. Through all of his travels, he searched for an answer to the question "How has one stone created empires, ruined lives, inspired lust and emptied wallets throughout history?" A diamond version of Susan Orleans's The Orchid Thief, Tom Zoellner's The Heartless Stone is a journey to the cold heart of the world's most unyielding gem.
About the Author
Tom Zoellner has worked as a contributing editor for Men's Health magazine and as a reporter for the San Francisco Chronicle. He is also the co-author of An Ordinary Man (Viking, 2006), the autobiography of Paul Rusesabagina, whose actions during the 1994 Rwandan genocide were portrayed in the movie Hotel Rwanda. Zoellner lives in New York City and is at work on a third book.