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To interview Carla or to book her for a radio
or television appearance, please contact
Encounter Books,
1-800-786-3839
or Writers
Representatives LLC. |
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Events | Advance
Praise | Book Reviews | News
& Media |
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Bulldozed is ForeWord Magazine's
2007
Book of the Year Award
Bronze Medal Winner
Political Science Category
ForeWord Magazine's Judging Criteria: "Our unique
awards process brings readers, librarians, and booksellers together to select
their top categories as well as choose the winning titles. Their decisions are
based on editorial excellence, professional production, originality of the narrative,
author credentials relative to the book, and the value the book adds to its genre.
"[Does the book] expand a reader's world, introduce a
voice society needs to hear, offer practical knowledge where none existed before,
or simply entertain so compellingly that all distractions fall away…Finalists
are determined by a jury of judges consisting of editors and reviewers of ForeWord
Magazine, booksellers, librarians, and other industry professionals."
Bulldozed was among three medal winners in its category, placing
above nine competing books, one of which was named as an Honorable Mention and
eight of which were Finalists.
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Bulldozed was one of a select group of books nominated and considered for
the 2007 T.R. Fehrenbach Book Award, given annually by the Texas
Historical Commission.
The Commission stated about Bulldozed, "Although the book
was not selected as a winner, it is a valuable contribution to the study of Texas
history." A copy of Bulldozed has been retained in the Texas Historical
Commission library in Austin.
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Events |
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Speaking Engagement:
Carla addressed students at Hamilton College, NY, about Bulldozed and
related Constitutional Law questions. Co-sponsored by the Alexander Hamilton
Institute and the Edmund Burke Institute together with the Republican Club of
Hamilton College. Saturday, Oct. 4, 2008 at 4:00 p.m. |
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A roundtable event was held at The American Enterprise
Institute, Washington, D.C., featuring Carla Main and a discussion of Bulldozed.
The invitation-only luncheon on December 12, 2007, moderated by Michael Barone,
included attendees Judge Stephen F. Williams of the U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals,
Roger Pilon of the Cato Institute, Fred Smith of the Competitive Institute, Robert
Gasaway of Kirkland & Ellis, Ashley Parrish and Alan
Greenblatt of Governing Magazine. The book forum event was hosted by
Michael Greve, the John G. Searle Scholar at AEI. |
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Advance Praise for Bulldozed
| "It is a rare issue, in an age of partisan polarization,
that can unite libertarians and liberals. The governmental power of eminent domain,
now employed for private profit, is one such issue. This spreading practice pits
class against class, wealth against ordinary property-owning citizens, and government
power against the powerless. Carla Main's vivid account of the history surrounding
the Supreme Court's Kelo decision should frighten every property-owning
American and make us all wonder where Tom Paine is when we need him." |
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| -- Gary Hart, United States Senator (ret.) |
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| "Like a Greek tragedy unfolding, Carla Main's book chronicles
the eminent domain struggles in Freeport, Texas, which pitted the Gore family,
with its longtime shrimp business, against the machinations of an unholy alliance
between city politicians and developers. If you have ever shared the Supreme
Court's unquestioned deference to the public planning process that shaped its
ill-fated Kelo decision, you'll surely change your mind as you follow
this sordid saga to its bitter end. You'll never look at eminent domain in the
same way again." |
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-- Richard A. Epstein, the James
Parker Hall Distinguished Service Professor of Law,
University of Chicago; Senior Fellow, Hoover Institution, and author of
Takings: Private Property and the Power of Eminent Domain |
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| "Bulldozed tells the people story behind the
great eminent domain cases: Kelo v. New London, Poletown Neighborhood
Council v. Detroit, and Western Seafood v. Freeport, Texas. To
understand the impact of eminent domain on real people, read Bulldozed.
A big bonus is that Carla Main has written a page-turner." |
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-- John Norquist, President and CEO
of the Congress for the
New Urbanism and former Mayor of Milwaukee |
Book Reviews
In a review for the Foundation for Economic Education's The Freeman (June
2008), Steven Greenhut says "Main's book artfully portrays what a piece
of property means to a particular family, the Gores. She intertwines broader
themes, but it's the family's story that's so compelling....Main puts the focus
of eminent domain where it needs to go - on the effects of takings on the lives
of those victimized by this abusive government power. Most Americans are not
fully aware of what's at stake. Anyone who takes the time to read this book will
understand that the post-Kelo debate is not really about property but about the
right of ordinary Americans to pursue their lives and dreams, regardless of the
designs of government planners."
Read the full review
here |
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George C. Leef reviewed Bulldozed for the Cato
Institute's Regulation (March
2008) and noted that with its publication "...the reform movement should
get a new jolt of energy [from] a book that centers on a protracted and
highly revealing eminent domain battle in Freeport,
Texas, where a family's
efforts to save their small
business from condemnation
was of Alamo proportions
- but with the
defenders holding out.
What makes Bulldozed so
compelling is the wealth of
detail Main presents on the slimy, despicable
tactics used by city officials in an
effort to get their way. Thus, the book is
not just a lesson about eminent domain,
but also a lesson on the ugly truth about
local government 'democracy.'"
George C. Leef is vice president
for research at the John W. Pope Center for Higher Education Policy. Read
the full review here (400kb PDF file) |
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Reviewing 'Bulldozed' for frontpagemagazine.com (March 21, 2008),
David Forsmark compared the book to a John Grisham legal thriller in which "Main
tells the story of the Gores and their brave stand against the thuggery of Freeport
city officials...from the suppression of political speech and the abuse of police
power, to the publishing of propaganda on the taxpayer dime." Forsmark concluded
that "...Carla Main's direct and witty writing makes 'Bulldozed' a
page-turner of the first order. It's also a darn good civics lesson."
Read
the full review here
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| A blogger following the controversial Atlantic Yards project in Brooklyn,
New York had this to
say about Bulldozed and related eminent domain
issues. (February
25, 2008) |
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Bulldozed was reviewed by Mark Lardas in the Galveston
County Daily News, Texas' oldest newspaper (January 27, 2008). Lardas
noted that books revolving around civil law can be complicated or dull, yet
this "is a remarkably readable and engaging book...Bulldozed reads
like a Grisham novel. The book is especially compelling as a local story, involving
area people. The points of law might be arcane, but Main humanizes
them by giving them a human face. She shows eminent domain cases are often less
about land than about people’s dreams. As Bulldozed shows,
when dreams collide people get hurt."
Read
the full review here
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Bulldozed was reviewed by Jonathan V. Last in the Wall
Street Journal (December
18, 2007): "Outrage, appropriately, is the sustained effect of Carla Main's Bulldozed,
the case study of another instance of eminent-domain abuse .... Ms. Main's legal
background and reporting skills serve her well as she navigates the Gores' messy,
twisting fight against city hall."
Read
the full review here
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Bulldozed was featured as the lead book review in the December
7, 2007 issue of The Recorder: "Carla Main
has provided us with a powerful and moving illustration of how tearing down the
'good fences'
that private property rights establish can turn 'good neighbors' into enemies
and good
neighborhoods into dark and forlorn places."
Read
an excerpt of the review here
or read the full review by subscription at Cal
Law's site
For a more informal review of Bulldozed on Tim Sandefur's blog,
click here |
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Bulldozed was reviewed by Heather Wilhelm at Real Clear
Politics (November 9, 2007): "[Bulldozed] offers
a clear-eyed assessment of eminent domain in America, focusing on the insanity
that recently engulfed a Texas town over a strip of waterfront land. Bulldozed also
addresses, through history and case law, how we got to this point -- and, now
that the bulldozer's out of the proverbial barn, where we go from here."
Read
the full review here |
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Bulldozed was reviewed by the Texas Observer, the leading liberal magazine
of Texas.
Read
the full review here
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| Bulldozed has been a featured selection of The Conservative
Book Club. |
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Bulldozed has been selected by The Human Events Book Service: "Veteran
journalist Carla T. Main," comments the Book Service, "takes a hard look at the
sad state of property rights in America, showing how easy it has become for local
governments to seize private property and turn it over to private developers
under the guise of 'public improvements' and 'public use.'"
Read
the full review here |
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Media/News
Carla Main was quoted in Alan Greenblatt's Observer column in Governing (March
2008) regarding the Department of Homeland Security's plan to build 670 miles
of new fencing along the nation's southwestern border this year.
Read
the story here (text only page; scroll down to
article titled "Fencing Match")
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Bulldozed was front page news on February 24, 2008
in The Facts, the leading daily paper in Brazoria County, Texas in a
story entitled "Book chronicles eminent domain fight."
Read
the story here
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Radio Appearances:
I Object: Justice Examined with host Jerri Lynn Ward on Right Talk Radio,
January 31, 2008.
In The News with host Pete Ferrand on WRJN News-Talk
1400 AM, Racine, Wisconsin, serving the greater Milwaukee metropolitan area,
January 7, 2008.
The Edge with John Stokes and The Ice Team, KGEZ Z-600
AM, Kalispell, Montana, serving the Great Falls metropolitan area, January 7,
2008.
The Mike McConnell Show, 700WLW Cincinnati Ohio, January
3, 2008
Radio Active with host Craig Hammond, WTZE serving Bluefield,
West Virginia and WHIS serving Tazewell County, Virginia, December 20, 2007
The Brad Davis Program, WDRC Radio, Hartford, Connecticut,
December 20, 2007
At Your Service with host Bill Corwin, WTRC serving
Southern Michigan and Northern Indiana, November 28, 2007
The Jack Pieper Afternoon Talk Show, KLVI, Beaumont,
Texas, November 15, 2007
The Curt Smith Show, "Perspectives," Rochester,
New York, NPR Affiliate, November 10, 2007
The Lee Rogers and Melanie Morgan Program, KFSO Radio, San Francisco,
California, October 19, 2007
The Gregg Knapp Experience, 570 KLIF, Radio America, October 15, 2007
(syndicated)
The Northwest Show with host Lars Larson, , October
8, 2007 (syndicated) |
To interview Carla or to book her for a radio or television appearance, please
contact Encounter Books, 1-800-786-3839 or Writers Representatives LLC.
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