Synopses & Reviews
The Rise Of The Perfect Lawn represents one of the most profound transformations in the history of the American landscape. Today the lawn is one of America's leading crops, outstripping cotton in acres by a factor of two. American Green, Ted Steinberg's witty expose of this sometimes bizarre phenomenon, traces the history of the lawn from its explosion in the postwar suburban community of Levittown just miles from where Steinberg grew up to the present love affair with turf colorants, leaf blowers, and riding mowers. For half a century, Americans have been on a quest for the greenest, weed-free, ultra-trim turf imaginable. But perfection has its costs. Blending muckraking journalism and social history, Steinberg looks at both the lighter and the darker side of the all-American landscape, from mower accidents and pesticide poisonings to lawnmower racing and the man so addicted to perfection that he re-created Augusta's 12th hole in his backyard.
Review
"Infinitely more interesting than watching grass grow....Steinberg offers an expose that is as entertaining as it is instructive." Booklist
Review
"Extensive endnotes conclude this highly readable and engaging book, which is recommended for public, academic, and horticultural libraries." Library Journal
Review
"As cultural history, American Green is relentlessly superficial....As environmental exposé, it is confused and poorly explained....There are just enough fascinating bits to keep the pages turning." New York Times
Review
"There's much nutrition in this book, considerably more than in more pretentious tomes, and Steinberg can write." Roger G. Kennedy, Director Emeritus, the National Museum of American History
Review
"Ted Steinberg is a very funny guy who also happens to write great social and environmental history." Donald Worster, author of A River Running West: The Life of John Wesley Powell
Synopsis
Blending muckraking journalism and social history, Steinberg looks at both the lighter and the darker side of the all-American landscape in this witty expose, from mower accidents and pesticide poisonings to lawnmower racing. 40 illustrations.
About the Author
Ted Steinberg is an environmental historian at Case Western Reserve University in Cleveland, Ohio. He is the author of four books, including Down to Earth: Nature's Role in American History.