Author: Peter Maass

I was born and raised in Los Angeles. In 1983, after graduating from the University of California at Berkeley, I went to Brussels as a copy editor for The Wall Street Journal/Europe. I left the Journal in 1985 to write for The New York Times and The International Herald Tribune, covering NATO and the European Union. In 1987 I moved to Seoul, South Korea, where I wrote primarily for The Washington Post. After three years in Asia I moved to Budapest to cover Eastern Europe and the Balkans. I spent most of 1992 and 1993 covering the war in Bosnia for the Post.

Curse, Peak, War

It sounds like the title of a book, “Curse, Peak, War: The Future of the Planet,” but I’m referring to a trio of stories in today’s papers that tell us an enormous amount about our energy problems. ... (Read more)

CUNY Graduate Center

New York, NY
CUNY Graduate Center
365 Fifth Avenue (at 34th Street)
New York, NY10016

Discussion on oil with George Caffentzis, moderated by Ashley Dawson. In the Skylight Room (9100).

Strand Book Store

New York, NY
Strand Book Store
828 Broadway
New York, NY 10003

A discussion about oil with Ed Kashi, author of Curse of the Black Gold.

Basra + Oil = Poverty

Iraq’s reserves of oil are among the largest in the world yet the country has endured all but non-stop warfare and dictatorship for much of the last few decades. A large portion of its oil is located around Basra, in the south of the country. As the New York Times explains in an ... (Read more)

New York University, School of Law

New York, NY
Furman Hall
Lester Pollack Room
245 Sullivan Street
New York, NY 10012

A discussion about Crude World, co-sponsored by the Institute for International Law and Justice and the Center for Human Rights and Global Justice. RSVP to ryank@exchange.law.nyu.edu.

Opposite of White

I shot this picture at the new exhibit of Roni Horn’s work at the Whitney Museum. The piece, entitled “Opposite of White,” looks familiar…

Maassapalooza, the British edition

Nice reviews of Crude World in the British press…
The Economist
Financial Times
The Independent
The Telegraph
New Statesman

Texas Book Festival

Austin, TX
Texas Book Festival
Capitol Extension Room E2.014
Austin, TX
Discussion about Crude World with John Spong, staff writer at Texas Monthly. For details please click here.

Brazos Bookstore

Houston, TX
Brazos Bookstore
2421 Bissonnet Street.
Houston, TX 77005

A reading about Crude World. Matt Simmons will introduce me. For details, please see the Brazos listing.

Judging a Book by Its Cover

I’m intrigued by the art of book design. Some designs are great, some less so. A few deserve to be placed in museums, they’re that good. I’m a huge fan of the Crude World cover that Peter Mendelsund designed for Knopf. Now comes the cover for the British edition of CW, which ... (Read more)