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Wastelands

The True Story of Farm Country on Trial

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Wastelands

By: Corban Addison, John Grisham - introduction
Narrated by: Rob Shapiro
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About this listen

 "Beautifully written, impeccably researched, and told with the air of suspense that few writers can handle, Wastelands is a story I wish I had written." —From the Foreword by John Grisham

The once idyllic coastal plain of North Carolina is home to a close-knit, rural community that for more than a generation has battled the polluting practices of large-scale farming taking place in its own backyard. After years of frustration and futility, an impassioned cadre of local residents, led by a team of intrepid and dedicated lawyers, filed a lawsuit against one of the world’s most powerful companies—and, miraculously, they won.

As vivid and fast-paced as a thriller, Wastelands takes us into the heart of a legal battle over the future of America’s farmland and into the lives of the people who found the courage to fight.

There is Elsie Herring, the most outspoken of the neighbors, who has endured racial slurs and the threat of a restraining order to tell the story of the waste raining down on her rooftop from the hog operation next door. There is Don Webb, a larger-than-life hog farmer turned grassroots crusader, and Rick Dove, a riverkeeper and erstwhile military judge who has pioneered the use of aerial photography to document the scale of the pollution. There is Woodell McGowan, a quiet man whose quest to redeem his family’s ancestral land encourages him to become a better neighbor, and Dr. Steve Wing, a groundbreaking epidemiologist whose work on the health effects of hog waste exposure translates the neighbors’ stories into the argot of science. And there is Tom Butler, an environmental savant and hog industry insider whose whistleblowing testimony electrifies the jury.

Fighting alongside them in the courtroom is Mona Lisa Wallace, who broke the gender barrier in her small southern town and built a storied legal career out of vanquishing corporate giants, and Mike Kaeske, whose trial skills are second to none.

With journalistic rigor and a novelist’s instinct for story, Corban Addison's Wastelands captures the inspiring struggle to bring a modern-day monopoly to its knees, to force a once-invincible corporation to change, and to preserve the rights—and restore the heritage—of a long-suffering community. Rural Sociology True Crime White Collar & Corporate Crime Crime Law Village

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All stars
Most relevant
As the book is introduced by John Grisham I had to keep reminding myself this was not a work of fiction. Human beings and animals paid an awful price for to long to satisfy the greed of big agri. This book is wonderful written and tenderly narrated and in the end exposes some men’s inhumanity.

Exceptional

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I was fascinated by the true story of a trial against an international company exploiting local people. The premise, the preparation and the execution of the trial are described beautifully. It took a couple of chapters before I was hooked but then loved every minute of the story.

A totally absorbing story

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impressive recount of a tale of our times. Reads or listens like fiction. Would make a great movie, ideally narrated by Rob Shapiro

Great story telling

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Without a doubt a story that keeps the listener held until the final word and without a doubt the best book I have listened to on Audible to date.

A Captivating Listen.

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what a boring monologue , just went on and on. gave up in the end and deleted it.

waste of money

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