Cotton: The Biography of a Revolutionary Fiber by Stephen Yafa
Stephen Yafa . Unknown Year . English
In the tradition of Mark Kurlanskys Cod and Salt, this endlessly revealing book reminds us that the fiber we think of as ordinary is the worlds most powerful cash crop, and that it has shaped the destiny of nations. Ranging from its domestication 5,500 years ago to its influence in creating Calvin Kleins empire and the Gap, Stephen Yafas Cotton gives us an intimate look at the plant that fooled Columbus into thinking hed reached India, that helped start the Industrial Revolution as well as the American Civil War, and that made at least one bugthe boll weevilworld famous. A sweeping chronicle of ingenuity, greed, conflict, and opportunism, Cotton offers "a barrage of fascinating information" (Los Angeles Times).
Categories: Creative Thinking / Creativity
About the Author
Stephen Yafa is an award-wining screenwriter whose most recent non-fiction book, Grain of Truth, separates fact from fad about the current gluten-free frenzy. Yafa shares his journey into the thriving culture of local artisan wheat from grower to baker. He becomes an obsessed sourdough home bread baker in the process, drops 10 pounds, and discovers that long fermentation makes wheat not only a delicious but safe choice for most of us. By delving into its benefits, Grain of Truth gives us back our daily bread. Yafa developed a fascination for fermentation early on and wrote extensively about wine before founding Segue Cellars and becoming a wine producer of Pinot Noir in the Russian River region of West Sonoma. He also created and edited the iPad weekly wine magazine, Uncorked for Nomad Publications and wrote the lead story on viticulture on Santorini in Adventures In Wine from Travelers Tales. As a screenwriter his screenplays have been produced at major Hollywood studios. He has also been a frequent contributor to Playboy and magazines that include Details, American Heritage and Rolling Stone, as well as Salon, online. Viking published his first non-fiction book, Cotton,The Biography of a Revolutionary Fiber. He is married with three grown children and lives in Marin County.
