Book Monitor: the Story of Stuff

The recently published Story of Stuff by Annie Leonard is a rant against prosperity. I have not read the book yet but I have heard her interviewed on the radio and read several articles by her. Back in May 2009 I also wrote a blog post on her original 20-minute video in which I counted at least 20 obvious errors. It would take a lengthy article to itemise and untangle them all.

On her website Leonard claims her original video has been: “viewed over 10 million times on-line and in thousands of schools, houses of worship, community centers and businesses around the world”. I have no doubt that at least part of the explanation for its popularity it precisely that it has received the backing from the authorities and from businesses. She has also done additional videos on bottled water and cap & trade with one on electronics due out in the autumn.

She seems to be producing rather a lot of “stuff” of her own.