-
World Made by Hand
- The World Made by Hand Novels, Book 1
- Narrated by: Jim Meskimen
- Length: 9 hrs and 39 mins
Add to Cart failed.
Add to Wish List failed.
Remove from wishlist failed.
Adding to library failed
Follow podcast failed
Unfollow podcast failed
Buy for $23.07
No default payment method selected.
We are sorry. We are not allowed to sell this product with the selected payment method
Listeners also enjoyed...
-
The Witch of Hebron
- A World Made by Hand Novel
- By: James Howard Kunstler
- Narrated by: Jim Meskimen
- Length: 10 hrs and 14 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
In the sequel to his best-selling World Made by Hand, James Howard Kunstler expands on his vision of a post-oil society with a new novel about an America in which the electricity has flickered off, the Internet is a distant memory, and the government is little more than a rumor. In the tiny hamlet of Union Grove, New York, travel is horse-drawn and farming is back at the center of life. But it’s no pastoral haven.
-
-
Very satisfying, and well-read
- By Bryan on 02-15-11
-
Living in the Long Emergency
- Global Crisis, the Failure of the Futurists, and the Early Adapters Who Are Showing Us the Way Forward
- By: James Howard Kunstler
- Narrated by: David de Vries
- Length: 9 hrs and 47 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
In his 2005 book, The Long Emergency, James Howard Kunstler described the global predicaments that would pitch the USA into political and economic turmoil in the 21st century - the end of affordable oil, climate irregularities, and flagging economic growth, to name a few. Now, he returns with a book that takes an up-close-and-personal approach to how real people are living now - surviving The Long Emergency as it happens.
-
-
I will buy the hard copy to study and savor.
- By FourGirlsMom on 03-06-20
-
The Geography of Nowhere
- The Rise and Decline of America's Man-Made Landscape
- By: James Howard Kunstler
- Narrated by: Al Kessel
- Length: 12 hrs and 35 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
In elegant and often hilarious prose, Kunstler depicts our nation's evolution from the Pilgrim settlements to the modern auto suburb in all its ghastliness. The Geography of Nowhere tallies up the huge economic, social, and spiritual costs that America is paying for its car-crazed lifestyle. It is also a wake-up call for citizens to reinvent the places where we live and work, to build communities that are once again worthy of our affection. Kunstler proposes that by reviving civic art and civic life, we will rediscover public virtue and a new vision of the common good.
-
-
Suburbia Jeremiad with poor narration
- By Skyler Chaney on 10-28-20
-
One Year After
- By: William R. Forstchen
- Narrated by: Bronson Pinchot
- Length: 9 hrs and 51 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
One Year After returns to the small town of Black Mountain and the man who struggled to rebuild it in the wake of devastation: John Matherson. It is a thrilling follow-up and should delight fans in every way.
-
-
Not what I expected
- By Joe on 04-23-16
-
Unprepared
- The Scourge, Book 1
- By: Tom Abrahams
- Narrated by: Kevin Pierce
- Length: 8 hrs and 19 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
A mutating plague is spreading. It's killing two of every three people on Earth. And Mike Crenshaw is totally unprepared. From the world of The Traveler Series comes a new cast of characters, new obstacles, and the same devastating, world-altering virus which plunges society into the depth of a dystopian hell. Unprepared begins in the hours before The Scourge takes hold. As if ripped from today's headlines, governments react too slowly and the disease spreads too fast. Quarantines don't work. Infrastructure fails. People die.
-
-
Ripped From The Headlines
- By Brian on 05-07-20
By: Tom Abrahams
-
Edge of Collapse
- Edge of Collapse Series, Book 1
- By: Kyla Stone
- Narrated by: Stacey Glemboski
- Length: 7 hrs and 51 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
In the middle of the coldest winter on record, a super EMP destroys the power grid. No electricity. No cars or phones. Worst of all, no heat. The country is plunged into instant chaos. But for 26-year-old Hannah Sheridan, it's the best day of her life. For the last five years, she's been held captive by a sadistic psychopath, until the EMP releases the lock of her prison. Hannah emerges from her underground cell into a hostile winter landscape with no way to call for help, no vehicle that will drive, armed with nothing but the clothes on her back and her own determination to survive.
-
-
✫✫ 4.5 Stars ✫✫
- By ❤️Cyndi Marie❤️🎧Audiobook Addicts🎧 on 09-16-20
By: Kyla Stone
-
The Witch of Hebron
- A World Made by Hand Novel
- By: James Howard Kunstler
- Narrated by: Jim Meskimen
- Length: 10 hrs and 14 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
In the sequel to his best-selling World Made by Hand, James Howard Kunstler expands on his vision of a post-oil society with a new novel about an America in which the electricity has flickered off, the Internet is a distant memory, and the government is little more than a rumor. In the tiny hamlet of Union Grove, New York, travel is horse-drawn and farming is back at the center of life. But it’s no pastoral haven.
-
-
Very satisfying, and well-read
- By Bryan on 02-15-11
-
Living in the Long Emergency
- Global Crisis, the Failure of the Futurists, and the Early Adapters Who Are Showing Us the Way Forward
- By: James Howard Kunstler
- Narrated by: David de Vries
- Length: 9 hrs and 47 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
In his 2005 book, The Long Emergency, James Howard Kunstler described the global predicaments that would pitch the USA into political and economic turmoil in the 21st century - the end of affordable oil, climate irregularities, and flagging economic growth, to name a few. Now, he returns with a book that takes an up-close-and-personal approach to how real people are living now - surviving The Long Emergency as it happens.
-
-
I will buy the hard copy to study and savor.
- By FourGirlsMom on 03-06-20
-
The Geography of Nowhere
- The Rise and Decline of America's Man-Made Landscape
- By: James Howard Kunstler
- Narrated by: Al Kessel
- Length: 12 hrs and 35 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
In elegant and often hilarious prose, Kunstler depicts our nation's evolution from the Pilgrim settlements to the modern auto suburb in all its ghastliness. The Geography of Nowhere tallies up the huge economic, social, and spiritual costs that America is paying for its car-crazed lifestyle. It is also a wake-up call for citizens to reinvent the places where we live and work, to build communities that are once again worthy of our affection. Kunstler proposes that by reviving civic art and civic life, we will rediscover public virtue and a new vision of the common good.
-
-
Suburbia Jeremiad with poor narration
- By Skyler Chaney on 10-28-20
-
One Year After
- By: William R. Forstchen
- Narrated by: Bronson Pinchot
- Length: 9 hrs and 51 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
One Year After returns to the small town of Black Mountain and the man who struggled to rebuild it in the wake of devastation: John Matherson. It is a thrilling follow-up and should delight fans in every way.
-
-
Not what I expected
- By Joe on 04-23-16
-
Unprepared
- The Scourge, Book 1
- By: Tom Abrahams
- Narrated by: Kevin Pierce
- Length: 8 hrs and 19 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
A mutating plague is spreading. It's killing two of every three people on Earth. And Mike Crenshaw is totally unprepared. From the world of The Traveler Series comes a new cast of characters, new obstacles, and the same devastating, world-altering virus which plunges society into the depth of a dystopian hell. Unprepared begins in the hours before The Scourge takes hold. As if ripped from today's headlines, governments react too slowly and the disease spreads too fast. Quarantines don't work. Infrastructure fails. People die.
-
-
Ripped From The Headlines
- By Brian on 05-07-20
By: Tom Abrahams
-
Edge of Collapse
- Edge of Collapse Series, Book 1
- By: Kyla Stone
- Narrated by: Stacey Glemboski
- Length: 7 hrs and 51 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
In the middle of the coldest winter on record, a super EMP destroys the power grid. No electricity. No cars or phones. Worst of all, no heat. The country is plunged into instant chaos. But for 26-year-old Hannah Sheridan, it's the best day of her life. For the last five years, she's been held captive by a sadistic psychopath, until the EMP releases the lock of her prison. Hannah emerges from her underground cell into a hostile winter landscape with no way to call for help, no vehicle that will drive, armed with nothing but the clothes on her back and her own determination to survive.
-
-
✫✫ 4.5 Stars ✫✫
- By ❤️Cyndi Marie❤️🎧Audiobook Addicts🎧 on 09-16-20
By: Kyla Stone
-
Piercing the Darkness
- By: Frank E. Peretti
- Narrated by: Richard Ferrone
- Length: 21 hrs and 5 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
In the small town of Bacon's Corner, powerful demons are working to ensnare the souls of the townspeople. A woman has been murdered, the Christian school is under attack, and the town is divided by a legal struggle. As heavenly beings rally to aid the faithful, gigantic evil ones are on the alert, looking for any sign of weakness. Each fast-paced chapter of this novel is filled with vivid descriptions of angels and demons. And the trials of the believers are no less absorbing. Richard Ferrone's dramatic narration highlights each test of faith and truth.
-
-
Prayer works!
- By Malia Jarrett on 10-11-20
By: Frank E. Peretti
-
Alas, Babylon
- By: Pat Frank
- Narrated by: Will Patton
- Length: 11 hrs and 11 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
This true modern masterpiece is built around the two fateful words that make up the title and herald the end - “Alas, Babylon.” When a nuclear holocaust ravages the United States, a thousand years of civilization are stripped away overnight, and tens of millions of people are killed instantly. But for one small town in Florida, miraculously spared, the struggle is just beginning, as men and women of all backgrounds join together to confront the darkness....
-
-
Timeless
- By Celeste Albers on 05-24-17
By: Pat Frank
-
The Dark Tower I
- The Gunslinger
- By: Stephen King
- Narrated by: George Guidall
- Length: 7 hrs and 20 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
In the first book of this brilliant series, Stephen King introduces listeners to one of his most powerful creations: Roland of Gilead, The Last Gunslinger. He is a haunting figure, a loner on a spellbinding journey into good and evil. In his desolate world, which frighteningly mirrors our own, Roland tracks The Man in Black, encounters an enticing woman named Alice, and begins a friendship with the boy from New York named Jake.
-
-
Abrupt Ending...
- By avoidthelloyd on 06-09-17
By: Stephen King
-
The Road
- By: Cormac McCarthy
- Narrated by: Tom Stechschulte
- Length: 6 hrs and 39 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
America is a barren landscape of smoldering ashes, devoid of life except for those people still struggling to scratch out some type of existence. Amidst this destruction, a father and his young son walk, always toward the coast, but with no real understanding that circumstances will improve once they arrive. Still, they persevere, and their relationship comes to represent goodness in a world of utter devastation.
-
-
The Road Too Ruined
- By Dubi on 07-10-19
By: Cormac McCarthy
-
The December Protocol
- By: Devin Hanson
- Narrated by: Rhett Samuel Price
- Length: 11 hrs and 50 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Throughout the entirety of history, humanity has fought against sickness, old age, frailty, even death itself hoping for eternal life. Hanson imagines life beyond those legends and stories - a solar system where humanity has discovered the secret to immortal life, at an extreme cost. The December Protocol rockets the listener into the late 24th century and raises thrilling questions about how far mankind would go to preserve the most precious gift we've ever received: immortality....
-
-
Entertaining And Thought-Provoking
- By Karen M. on 02-22-18
By: Devin Hanson
-
Commune
- Commune, Book 1
- By: Joshua Gayou
- Narrated by: R.C. Bray
- Length: 9 hrs and 46 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
For dinosaurs, it was a big rock. For humans: Coronal Mass Ejection (CME). When the Earth is hit by the greatest CME in recorded history (several times larger than the Carrington Event of 1859), the combined societies of the planet's most developed nations struggle to adapt to a life thrust back into the Dark Ages. In the United States, the military scrambles to speed the nation's recovery on multiple fronts including putting down riots, establishing relief camps, delivering medical aid, and bringing communication and travel back on line. Just as a real foothold is established in retaking the skies (utilizing existing commercial aircraft supplemented by military resources and ground control systems), a mysterious virus takes hold of the population, spreading globally over the very flight routes that the survivors fought so hard to rebuild.
-
-
Don’t recommend this book
- By Momma on 08-17-19
By: Joshua Gayou
-
The Warded Man
- By: Peter V. Brett
- Narrated by: Pete Bradbury
- Length: 18 hrs and 10 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Peter V. Brett has won accolades from critics, fans and fellow authors alike for this riveting debut novel. The Warded Man features a world where demons stalk the night, hunting humans who have long forgotten the magic of their ancestors. But all is not lost, as some hold out hope that a savior will release humanity from the demons' terrifying reign.
-
-
Amazing World - Shockingly Bad Everything Else
- By Duarte Costeira on 09-19-17
By: Peter V. Brett
-
Partials
- Partials, Book 1
- By: Dan Wells
- Narrated by: Julia Whelan
- Length: 14 hrs and 6 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
The human race is all but extinct after a war with Partials - engineered organic beings identical to humans - has decimated the population. Reduced to only tens of thousands by RM, a weaponized virus to which only a fraction of humanity is immune, the survivors in North America have huddled together on Long Island while the Partials have mysteriously retreated. The threat of the Partials is still imminent, but, worse, no baby has been born immune to RM in more than a decade. Our time is running out.
-
-
Great Dystopia
- By MCinTX on 05-17-12
By: Dan Wells
-
The Water Knife
- By: Paolo Bacigalupi
- Narrated by: Almarie Guerra
- Length: 14 hrs and 1 min
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
In the American Southwest, Nevada, Arizona, and California skirmish for dwindling shares of the Colorado River. Into the fray steps Angel Velasquez, detective, leg breaker, assassin, and spy. A Las Vegas water knife, Angel "cuts" water for his boss, Catherine Case, ensuring that her lush, luxurious arcology developments can bloom in the desert, so the rich can stay wet while the poor get nothing but dust.
-
-
Too grisly for my tastes, but otherwise good
- By Rankin on 03-17-16
By: Paolo Bacigalupi
-
The Borrowed World
- A Novel of Post-Apocalyptic Collapse, Volume 1
- By: Franklin Horton
- Narrated by: Kevin Pierce
- Length: 7 hrs and 54 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
In a night of devastating terror, ISIS operatives have unleashed a coordinated attack on America's infrastructure. With thousands of trapped travelers and scarce law enforcement, the miles between Jim Powell and his family become a brutal gauntlet where the rules of civilized society no longer apply. As Jim puts his years of preparation and planning to the test, he is forced to ask himself if he has what it takes to make it home. Does he have the strength - the brutality - required to meet this new world toe-to-toe?
-
-
I couldn't do it. Couldn't get past ch. 5
- By Selena on 10-04-17
By: Franklin Horton
-
A Long Time Until Now
- By: Michael Z. Williamson
- Narrated by: Dennis Holland
- Length: 22 hrs and 10 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
A military unit is thrust back into Paleolithic times with only their guns and portable hardware. Ten soldiers on convoy in Afghanistan suddenly find themselves lost in time. Somehow they arrived in Earth's Paleolithic Asia. With no idea how they arrived or how to get back, the shock of the event is severe. They discover groups of the similarly displaced: imperial Romans, Neolithic Europeans, and a small cadre of East Indian peasants.
-
-
Different Than Expected--But an Excellent Listen !
- By C. Hartmann on 06-11-15
-
Survivors: A Novel of the Coming Collapse
- By: James Wesley Rawles
- Narrated by: Dick Hill
- Length: 13 hrs and 36 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
America is in the thrall of a full-scale socioeconomic breakdown. The stock market plummets, hyperinflation destroys the value of the dollar, and the population, unprepared for hardship, panics. Practically overnight, the high technology infrastructure and chains of supply collapse and wholesale rioting and looting grip every city. Law enforcement, transportation, electricity, fuel, and medical supplies are all in the past now, as the country staggers beneath its own weight.
-
-
More of the same...
- By Jan on 12-03-13
Publisher's Summary
In The Long Emergency, celebrated social commentator James Howard Kunstler explored how the terminal decline of oil production combined with climate change had the potential to put industrial civilization out of business. In World Made by Hand, an astonishing work of speculative fiction, Kunstler brings to life what America might be, a few decades hence, after these catastrophes converge.
The electricity has flickered out. The automobile age is over. In Union Grove, a little town in upstate New York, the future is nothing like people thought it would be. Life is hard and close to the bone. Transportation is slow and dangerous, so food is grown locally at great expense of time and energy, and the outside world is largely unknown. There may be a president, and he may be in Minneapolis now, but people aren’t sure. The townspeople’s challenges play out in a dazzling, fully realized world of abandoned highways and empty houses, horses working the fields and rivers, no longer polluted, and replenished with fish.
This is the story of Robert Earle and his fellow townspeople and what happens to them one summer in a country that has changed profoundly. A powerful tale of love, loss, violence, and desperation, World Made by Hand is also lyrical and tender, a surprising story of a new America struggling to be born - a story more relevant now than ever.
Critic Reviews
More from the same
What listeners say about World Made by Hand
Average Customer RatingsReviews - Please select the tabs below to change the source of reviews.
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
- David
- 06-27-13
A kind of Amish post-apocalypse
Among the many subgenres I have a weakness for, one of my favorites is the post-apocalyptic thriller. World Made By Hand is not a thriller, though there is some action and violence. It occupies some strange middle ground between The Stand and Earth Abides. James Howard Kunstler is more interested in telling a story about what people do when the lights go out and how they go back to churning their own butter and making their own candles than a broader story about the collapse of civilization. In fact, that theme (as indicated by the title of the novel) seems to be the reason why the author wrote this book. While the residents of Union Grove, New York now live hard, sometimes precarious lives, and Kunstler does not neglect to show people suffering trauma and not coping very well with the death of the world they knew, the subtext throughout the book seems to be "Maybe it's better this way." The narrator, who by virtue of being the only responsible adult who was too much of a sucker not to say 'No' is now the mayor of Union Grove, frequently ruminates on how much better and sturdier things are now when you have to make them to last, just like in the old days, and seems to regard his old modern consumer life with a mixture of yearning and ironic disdain.
So there is quite a bit of talk about how people have gone back to a primarily agrarian existence, without oil or electricity, and how they struggle to survive when most folks don't have the skills needed for a post-industrial society. It's one of those books that makes you think about what you would do: if all of a sudden we got knocked back to the 19th century by some sort of apocalypse, do you have any survival skills? Any useful skills that would make you valuable to a community. Well, I'm no prepper and I'm afraid my own skill set would probably prove a bit meager.
We aren't given many details about what happened in this world made by hand. There is talk of recent wars in the Middle East, and bombs took out Washington, D.C. and Los Angeles and other cities (though apparently not New York City), and the U.S. government, and global civilization, seems to have essentially collapsed. The folks in Union Grove get little news from up the Hudson and even less from anywhere outside New York.
That said, they have been, as Brother Job of the New Faith Church points out, awfully lucky so far. They've managed to keep their town running with no major disasters, and their region has not yet reached the stage of feuding warlords and roving bandit gangs. However, lawlessness is certainly taking over the countryside, which causes most of the problems in the book as they have to deal first with a trade ship that was sent down the Hudson to New York City and never returned, and then with a local troublemaker who has set himself up as a feudal lord on the edge of town with a bunch of bikers, vagrants, and other ne'er do wells.
The New Faith Church, a bunch of healthy young evangelicals, show up in Union Grove and want to settle there, which proves to be a mixed blessing. They are (it seems) basically clean, decent, hard-working folks, and they bring fresh blood and, incidentally, a lot of combat vets. However, they definitely have proselytizing on the agenda, and being an instant power in the community, there are bound to be tensions.
It's a well-constructed story and the world, while light on details, makes sense. No major suspensions of disbelief, until the end, where Kunstler seems to be hinting at the encroaching of supernatural elements. As Brother Job says, "Science don't rule the roost no more." It's both odd given the straightforward, realistic style of the rest of the novel, and also seems to be in keeping with the idea of a "world made by hand" being somehow deeper and more spiritual.
Well, it wasn't bad, but it wasn't terribly exciting, and I'm not inclined to sign up for the rest of the series to learn just how religious the author decides to get. Yes, our modern consumer lifestyle probably is unsustainable and many things are lost when everything is commercial and transient. On the other hand, as the events in World Made By Hand show, it's not a great improvement to let the world be run by whoever has the most charisma and guns, and I have no faith in the nice folks of the New Faith Church not turning into witch-burning science-hating zealots given a generation or so to cement their power. So, while I feel a certain sympathy for the idea that the world would actually be a better place without Walmarts and reality TV, I'm not willing to throw out electricity, antibiotics, and indoor plumbing to get it.
18 people found this helpful
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
- Pennalie
- 06-12-13
Andy Griffith at the end of the world
Be prepared for a leisurely pace. The first 1/2 of the story is more of a sketch of a post-electronic world than an actual story. Built to be idealistic more than realistic, this dystopian world clearly depicts the author's preference for a world with less technology. He succeeded in making me imagine the beauty that could await us if we found ourselves back in synch with nature's rhythms, but the entire story softens the blows--until the strange and abruptly violent ending. The plot takes its time developing, then takes an ugly turn in a way that seemed incongruous with the Andy Griffith beginning.
An additional note of complaint is the author's treatment of women. Not only are they all emotionally weak, needy, manipulative or disturbed, they rely exclusively on men for their care and feeding. Kunstler's main source of differentiating between them is by remarking on their various breast sizes, which only exaggerates this misogynist worldview.
Before adding this book to my summer reading (& listening) list, I had just finished Alas Babylon (1959, Pat Frank). The similarities are abundant. The biggest difference is in the story telling. Babylon builds suspense while offering plenty of commentary, thus never feeling dull and weary. The narrator for Alas Babylon also kept the pace and intensity in a way that Jim Meskimen never mastered. I was also able to forgive Pat Frank for his 1950's treatment of women (pre-women's liberation). On the other hand, I could not get past Kunstler's apparent chauvinism .......and racism. Really? Are no minorities in all of upstate New York? In Kunstler's future they are entirely relegated to race wars in urban centers far, far away.
18 people found this helpful
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
- Elizabeth Hendricks
- 09-30-20
Failed Sexy Lamp
Let me save y'all some money here, Cis-white heteronormative middle-age male protagonist is sad at the end of the world and his best friend's wife, who is also sad, has sex with him because she's sad and definitely not depressed. I'm so sick of this.
10 people found this helpful
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
- NMwritergal
- 01-16-18
One of my favorite “post-apocalyptic” novels
There’s a sort of sub-genre of post-apocalyptic fiction, which is the “almost-but-not-quite-apocalypse” that I enjoy. World Made by Hand is also one of those books. (I’d put Soft Apocalypse by Will McIntosh, which I also really liked in this category). I tend to be interested in the “things have almost completely fallen apart and how are we going to survive this and still live a decent life?” scenarios. Most of us don’t make or grow anything—we buy it—so I find the details of daily life without all the modern conveniences fascinating.
I read this when it first came out and just now listened on audio, and it held up for me. (The second book in the series is horrible, but the third and fourth are good.) No, there aren’t any kick-butt heroines or even strong female characters, but I could overlook the male-dominated story because I liked the characters. Plus, throw a cult into any story and I’m on board—even if they are nut-case Christians; some of them are actually likable and if not likable, rather entertaining.
6 people found this helpful
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
- Clara
- 05-22-13
Male fantasy makes for a poor/unrealistic story
As some reviewers have pointed out, this book is not particularly well written. As a story, not great literature, it would be passable. However, you will have to pretend that it was written in the 50’s like Alas Babylon, for it to be an okay listen and even then it sounds like a pathetic kind of male wishful thinking.
Women are not going to “drop” feminism and revert to being stereotypically deferential and secondary to men because we lose technology. Every major player in this book is male and that effectively eroded any plausibility of this story for me. Two minor characters are female. One is manipulative and emotionally unstable, the other (young and attractive) picks a man older than her father for shelter and wants to sleep with him in exchange for protection although being the protagonist, he doesn't pressure her. Oh, and there is also a mysteriously powerful woman at the heart of the religious cult who is described as obese, nauseating and completely disgusting.
Even in times past, in a small town, women would be extremely important to the fabric of the community, not just shadows. Sorry Mr. Kunstler. For better or worse, women today are even the largest new market for guns. While you obviously long for more “simple” times, there are just too many female doctors, dentists, mayors, police chiefs, land holders, CEOs and even ministers for the future to play out this way. That reality completely blows your story -- and exposes your misogyny.
20 people found this helpful
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
- Jeremiah Small
- 12-28-19
Soft core prepper porn
This story basically fetishizes apocalypse. It feels like the author wishes this would happen. There’s no real conflict or drama. Everything wraps up with a bow, except the random insertion of apparently supernatural events toward the end which don’t advance the plot in any way.
It’s a decent adventure yarn, and the performance is excellent, but I don’t recommend it.
4 people found this helpful
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
- Sandra Woolstenhulme
- 09-25-18
a bit peeved
Overall i liked this book. But was pretty unhappy about author's writing when a young woman was not raped but only touched by the hooligans against her will. treated sexual molestation like it was nothing because she was not raped.
4 people found this helpful
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
- Drew (@drewsant)
- 01-24-14
A Well told story
“A World Made By Hand” paints a vivid picture of what life could be like when all of the modern world’s conveniences are gone through lack of oil. If you’re looking for an action packed post apocalypse thriller this probably isn’t for you, but what it lacks in action it more than makes up for in storytelling. Everything from what has happened to make the world this way to the everyday actions of the characters are painted so vividly that you could practically be there. The characters are liable well thought out and the story is so interesting compared to other post-apocalyptic novels. While other novels are almost exclusively small groups or individuals trying to stay alive this book focuses on a whole community. I can’t wait to get into the other books in the series.
The narrator was great with the different characters and really brought the story to life.
3 people found this helpful
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
- Oviator
- 11-13-21
Well written and well read!
A very levelheaded and realistic imagining of a future without oil or electricity. It seems to avoid the hyper Violet excess of some post apocalyptic stories.
2 people found this helpful
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
- Stephanie
- 02-28-18
This book is terrible
This book reads like a series of journal entries from a dim man living in a perverted world. It lists all of the disgusting things he sees and thinks about. There is no real climax, antagonist, protagonist, and no real point. This book was a colossal waste.
2 people found this helpful
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story

- Virginie D.
- 01-30-22
Best audio listening. Great book!
The narrator is amazing, loved it!!
Interprets all characters. Great story too. Thank you.
1 person found this helpful
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story

- Rory Gallagher
- 09-12-21
Never fear old white guys will still be in charge.
Like most reviewers I have a bit of a soft spot the post apocalyptic or back to nature genre.
Try the wild shore by Kim Stanley Robinson if you haven't already read it. it was written 25 years before this rubbish.
1 person found this helpful
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story

- Hedgerow Lady
- 02-25-21
Thought provoking
A great post apocalyptic tale, exceptionally well delivered by an excellent voice actor.
I swear Wayne was played by Jack Nicholson!
1 person found this helpful
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story

- Tom
- 08-25-17
End of the World meets Frontier Country
What did you like most about World Made by Hand?
Although the Author has a definite political agenda (left of centre) I didn't feel it was being constantly rammed down my throat as is often the case with this genre. I enjoyed not being told everything at once. How did the world stop why is it the way it is now? This was drip fed on an almost need to know basis which kept me wanting more. I will definitely buy more in the series. As an atheist I tend to be wary when religion pops up in any book. However, in this book I found the use of religion interesting in the binding together of a community. A new religion moving in on an established faith and the possible outcomes. There are other underlying issues mentioned in the book that may be looked at later; the number of children being born; the issues of race and ethnicity; and a nascent serf system developing under a benevolent liege lord
What was one of the most memorable moments of World Made by Hand?
There are no set pieces so it is difficult to say. However, I found the visit to Carpville to serve an arrest warrant reminiscent of scenes from westerns, or a visit to an off-world market from a science fiction film. Bizarre and creepy with enough tension to make you concerned for the main protagonists. .
Have you listened to any of Jim Meskimen’s other performances? How does this one compare?
I have not listened to Jim Meskimen before, so have nothing to compare it to. However, I did enjoy his performance and at no point did it grate, although being English I would have issues over some pronunciations.
Was there a moment in the book that particularly moved you?
Killing is messy and the law is notional idea in this world of the future. We have characters who want to uphold and use the law, but also realise that sometimes you have to just kill people. It's not cartoon violence. When people die you are surprised and in some cases sorrowful.
Any additional comments?
It is nice to read a book in this genre where sex is okay and sex outside of marriage is a given. No mention yet of same sex relationships, but I live in hope.
2 people found this helpful
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story

- Anonymous User
- 04-07-22
Feels like it's written by a 60 year old male
The story feels like it's written by an old white frustrated male, giving the "back in my old days", "kids nowdays are some lazy punks" and "praying is the cure to everything". I got to about chapter 7, and It's simple unbearable. It's like talking with an old divorced guy.
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story

- Shaun V. Hewitt
- 04-05-22
Thought provoking.
Although set after the downfall of society as we know it, this is no way a fantasy novel.
I guess we all have an idea in our heads, or have flirted with the concept of, what our lives might be like after the apocalypse. In this imagined world there is not even an apocalypse, there is a realistic spiral downwards of the American infrastructure. This book then imagines that concept with less dramatic consequences than we are used to seeing in films set in future times. I can imagine the world James Howard Kunstler has created, and not ALL of it is unappealing.
The only negative I can think of is the ending, it kind of just stops, though it does leave the reader to imagine their own 'what happens next'.
Off to buy the second book now. Sad to see the rest of the series after that isn't on Audio.
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story

- Anonymous User
- 03-30-22
One potential epitaph for our time
A prophetic tale; at times bleak, hopeful at others. i resisted awarding a full 5 stars only because the perspective is somewhat limited. i particularly enjoyed the reading by Jim Meskimen which added a certain wholesome quality to what might have been just another tale of dystopia. There are hints of a supernatural element which i expect to be developed and I look forward to reading further works in this series and also the author's non fiction, all of which seem to be available here.
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story

- Anonymous User
- 03-24-22
Abominable tripe!
Post apocalyptic fantasy where "men are men" and women's hair smells of "child bearing". If it weren't for the covert racism and overt sexism I might have given it more of a try, but it was painful to listen to.
The narrator has a pleasant voice, and the writing itself is not too bad. But the hidden assumptions of women being unable to steer their own path in the post-machine age are laughable. Throughout history women have been able to chart their own course, but here, without a man to provide for her a woman is at the mercy of whatever comes her way.
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story

- VJ
- 03-16-22
Excellent
Such a refreshing change to have a more believable post apocalyptic storyline.
I thoroughly enjoyed both books (so far?) in this series. Great characters that where brought to life with outstandingly good narration.
More please!
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story

- Anonymous User
- 12-26-17
A wonderfully vivid vision of a post oil world.
Thoroughly enjoyed Kunstler's vision. The female characters could have been developed much further. At times it felt like they were only there to service the needs/fantasies of the main protagonist/author.