Product Description

For three decades, Jerry Brown has been one of the most insightful and outspoken figures on the American cultural landscape. Former Governor of California and Mayor of the city of Oakland, he has re-evaluated and attacked entrenched ideas, forging a political philosophy that transcends conventional boundaries.

Dialogues is a collection of conversations between Brown and eighteen men and women whose ideas and activism have helped shape his vision. Ranging from the villages of India to the streets of the South Bronx, from birth centers in Holland to Louisiana' s Death Row, from battlefields to Buddhist monasteries, this work explores accepted practices that undermine a just society, and proposes ways of being that can lead to a sustainable future.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #1401965 in Books
• Published on: 1998-09
• Original language: English
• Number of items: 1
• Binding: Paperback
• 309 pages

From Booklist
After victory in a June primary, former California governor Brown is campaigning for November election as mayor of Oakland. Before he takes on that daunting responsibility, he shares 18 of his more than 300 interviews during the 18 months he spent hosting the syndicated radio program We the People. On issues of justice, Brown's interview subjects include Jonathan Kozol, Sister Helen Prejean, Noam Chomsky, and David Korten. The environment, the arts, globalization, and spirituality are among subjects he discusses with Thich Nhat Hanh, Judi Bari, Helena Norberg-Hodge, Vandana Shiva, Wolfgang Sachs, and Gary Snyder. John Taylor Gatto and Susannah Sheffer converse about education and home schooling; Paolo Soleri, urban design; Donovan Webster and Lt. Col. David Grossman, war and "the violent society"; Suzanne Arms, childbirth; and Ivan Illich and Alice Walker, friendship and kindness. Most appropriate for libraries where Brown won a significant following in the 1992 presidential race, where his radio program was popular, or where books by his interview subjects circulate. Mary Carroll

From the Back Cover
Jerry Brown's great gift has always been his willingness to bring his intelligence to bear on the innovative as opposed to the received idea, and Dialogues is a rich and brilliant display of that process, a stimulating exposure to interesting and provocative minds in play. (Joan Didion)

For three decades, Jerry Brown has been one of the most provocative and insightful figures on the American cultural landscape. Former Governor of California, Presidential candidate, and Mayor of the city of Oakland, he has re-evaluated and attacked entrenched ideas, forging a political philosophy that transcends conventional boundaries.

Dialogues is a collection of conversations between Brown and eighteen men and women whose ideas and activism have helped shape his vision. Ranging from the villages of India to the streets of the South Bronx, from birth centers in Holland to LouisianaM-^Rs Death Row, from battlefields to Buddhist monasteries to a place at the table with friends, this work explores accepted practices that undermine the foundations of society, and proposes ways of being that can create a more just and sustainable future.

About the Author
A native of San Francisco, Jerry Brown studied for the Catholic priesthood, and received degrees from the University of California at Berkeley and Yale Law School. In 1970 he was elected Secretary of State of California, and served as Governor of California from 1974 to 1982, where he was in the forefront of labor, environmental, and race and gender equity issues.

After leaving electoral politics in 1984, he traveled to Japan, Mexico and India, where he worked with Mother Teresa, then returned to California to serve as Chair of the state Democratic Party. Disillusioned by the increasing influence of money on politics, he resigned and sought the Democratic Presidential nomination in 1992. In this historic campaign, Brown refused all donations larger than $100, won six state primary elections, and was the only candidate other than Bill Clinton to gain enough voter support to continue until the Democratic convention.

In 1994, Brown began broadcast of his radio program, "We The People with Jerry Brown," which aired in San Francisco, Los Angeles, Houston, New York and Washington D.C. He suspended broadcasts of this program in December 1997 to run for Mayor of Oakland, California. He won the mayoral election in June, 1998, and will take office in January, 1999.

Brown's commentary on the contemporary political scene has appeared recently in George magazine, the Los Angeles Times, the San Francisco Examiner, the San Francisco Chronicle, the New York Times, Newsday, the Washington Monthly, the Chicago Tribune, the Houston Chronicle, the Seattle Times and USA Today.

He appears frequently on television, most recently on such programs as: Larry King Live, Politics with Chris Matthews, CNN Inforum, Fox In-Depth, C-Span, MSNBC, the Charles Grodin Show, the Tom Snyder Show, Crossfire, Inside Politics, Firing Line, and Equal Time.

He has lectured at UC-Berkeley, UCLA, Columbia University, Northwestern University, Yale University, Pennsylvania State, the University of Texas, and many other prestigious universities.

Customer Reviews

A Must Read
This book was excellent in the contents and it is full of interesting thoughts and ideas, expressed by a selected assortment of 18 people that inspired Jerry Brown himself. In the book, he gets to interview each one of them in a sort of dialogue that engages these peoples ideas. Most of the topics deal with social and political criticism, well founded by the way, and it is very insightful into looking beyond the reality of everyday life, what are the larger mechanisms at work, what are our limitations, what are the problems, what are the underlying issues, etc. It tends to uncover many assumptions and should provoke in the reader much thinking on issues that affect us all in today's society, from religion to environmentalism to capitalism.

An excellent summary of Jerry Brown's talk show content
The book is vintage Jerry Brown. The various people with whom he holds discussions on a variety of issues builds a consistent humanistic position with regard to the current situation in the United States. These are views that come from "reading between the lines" with regard to what is happening in our country--and in the world. The discussions are truthful, impactful, revealing and very intellectual in nature. The dialogues will open up your mind to events and conditions, even if you disagree with the stated positions. And, the discussions should make everyone more aware of what is happening around them, particularly in the areas of the economy, the environment, politics, social agendas and military research.

Jerry Brown - Moral & Spiritual Politician
Jerry Brown is that rare thing - an ethical politician. Read this book to get some insight into the otherwise private nature of an influential figure. Read how Mayor Brown served with Mother Theresa in Calcutta and decided to save a city rather than "monitor" government at the state or national level. Courageous and noble man.