
Paradise Falls
The True Story of an Environmental Catastrophe
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Narrated by:
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Eileen Stevens
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By:
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Keith O'Brien
About this listen
From the New York Times best-selling journalist, the staggering, hidden story of an unlikely band of mothers who discovered the deadly secret of Love Canal, and exposed one of America’s most devastating environmental disasters.
Lois Gibbs, Luella Kenny, and other mothers loved their neighborhood on the east side of Niagara Falls. It had an elementary school, a playground, and rows of affordable homes. In the spring of 1977, pungent odors began to seep into these little houses, and it didn’t take long for worried mothers to identify the curious scent. It was the sickly-sweet smell of chemicals.
In this propulsive work of narrative reportage, Keith O’Brien uncovers how Lois Gibbs and Luella Kenny exposed the poisonous secrets buried in their neighborhood. The school and playground had been built atop an old canal—the Love Canal, it was called. The city’s largest employer, Hooker Chemical, had quietly filled this canal with 20,000 tons of toxic waste in the 1940s and 1950s. This waste was now leaching to the surface, causing a public health crisis the likes of which America had never seen before—and sparking new and specific fears. Luella Kenny believed the chemicals were making her son sick.
O’Brien braids together the previously unknown stories of Hooker Chemical’s deeds; the local newspaperman, scientist, and congressional staffer who tried to help; the city and state officials who didn’t; and the heroic women who stood up to corporate and governmental indifference to save their families and their children. They would take their fight all the way to the top, winning support from the E.P.A. and the White House, even President Jimmy Carter himself, and by the time it was over, they would capture the American imagination. Sweeping and electrifying, Paradise Falls brings to life a defining story from our past, laying bare how the dauntless efforts of a few women helped to spark the modern environmental movement as we know it today.
Cover images: Courtesy of the University Archives, University at Buffalo, The State University of New York
©2022 Keith O'Brien (P)2022 Random House AudioListeners also enjoyed...
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Critic reviews
2023, Andrew Carnegie Medal for Excellence in Nonfiction: Long-listed
CARNEGIE MEDAL FOR EXCELLENCE NOMINEE
“Propulsive . . . A mighty work of historical journalism . . . Paradise Falls is a glorious quotidian thriller about people forced to find and use their inner strength. After all these years, they are fortunate to have a chronicler as focused and thoughtful as O’Brien. He brings their courage back to life.”—The Boston Globe
“With stunning clarity . . . [O’Brien chronicles] the human tragedy of Love Canal. . . By the time I read of Jon Allen’s death, even though I knew the outcome, I cried. . . As the disaster unfolds, there are horrific discoveries, medical mysteries and plenty of screaming neighbors . . . so gripping it could almost be a thriller.”—Erika Engelhaupt, Science News
"Paced like a thriller, it’s a remarkable story of perseverance against impossible odds."—Chicago Review of Books
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Steve Osborne has seen a thing or two in his 20 years in the NYPD - some harmless things, some definitely not. In "Stakeout" Steve and his partner mistake a Manhattan dentist for an armed robbery suspect and reduce the man down to a puddle of snot and tears when questioning him. In "Mug Shot" the mother of a suspected criminal makes a strange request and provides a sobering reminder of the humanity at stake in his profession.
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Great Book for Traveling
- By Johnnie Walker on 05-15-16
By: Steve Osborne
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The 272
- The Families Who Were Enslaved and Sold to Build the American Catholic Church
- By: Rachel L. Swarns
- Narrated by: Karen Murray
- Length: 9 hrs and 32 mins
- Unabridged
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In 1838, a group of America’s most prominent Catholic priests sold 272 enslaved people to save their largest mission project, what is now Georgetown University. In this groundbreaking account, journalist, author, and professor Rachel L. Swarns follows one family through nearly two centuries of indentured servitude and enslavement to uncover the harrowing origin story of the Catholic Church in the United States. Through the saga of the Mahoney family, Swarns illustrates how the Church relied on slave labor and slave sales to sustain its operations and to help finance its expansion.
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Hard, but absolutely worthwhile.
- By Michael S. Henderson on 09-06-23
By: Rachel L. Swarns
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A First-Rate Madness
- Uncovering the Links Between Leadership and Mental Illness
- By: S. Nassir Ghaemi
- Narrated by: Adam Barr
- Length: 9 hrs and 57 mins
- Unabridged
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Historians have long puzzled over the apparent mental instability of great and terrible leaders alike: Napoleon, Lincoln, Churchill, Hitler, and others. In A First-Rate Madness, Nassir Ghaemi, director of the Mood Disorders Program at Tufts Medical Center, offers a myth-shattering exploration of the powerful connections between mental illness and leadership and sets forth a controversial, compelling thesis: The very qualities that mark those with mood disorders also make for the best leaders in times of crisis.
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Excellent read.
- By TvK on 07-12-24
By: S. Nassir Ghaemi
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An Unsung Hero
- Tom Crean – Antarctic Survivor
- By: Michael Smith
- Narrated by: Gerry O'Brien
- Length: 11 hrs and 56 mins
- Unabridged
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Tom Crean was the farmer’s son from Kerry who sailed on three major expeditions to the unknown Antarctic over a century ago. He served with both Captain Robert Scott and Sir Ernest Shackleton, spent longer on the ice than either and outlived them both. But Tom Crean returned to Ireland and never spoke about his exploits, taking his incredible story to the grave - until the publication of An Unsung Hero, which unearthed his story and saw him rightfully placed amongst the annals of the great explorers.
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Not much new here
- By Lucy D on 06-21-23
By: Michael Smith
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The Money Kings
- The Epic Story of the Jewish Immigrants Who Transformed Wall Street and Shaped Modern America
- By: Daniel Schulman
- Narrated by: Jonathan Davis
- Length: 22 hrs and 21 mins
- Unabridged
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Joseph Seligman arrived in the United States in 1837, with the equivalent of $100 sewn into the lining of his pants. Then came the Lehman brothers, who would open a general store in Montgomery, Alabama. Not far behind were Solomon Loeb and Marcus Goldman, among the “Forty-Eighters” fleeing a Germany that had relegated Jews to an underclass.
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perfect context for issues of antisemitism & money
- By Marjorie on 04-01-24
By: Daniel Schulman
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Madam
- The Biography of Polly Adler, Icon of the Jazz Age
- By: Debby Applegate
- Narrated by: Erin Bennett
- Length: 20 hrs and 25 mins
- Unabridged
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Simply put: Everybody came to Polly's. Pearl "Polly" Adler (1900-1962) was a diminutive dynamo whose Manhattan brothels in the Roaring '20s became places not just for men to have the company of women but were key gathering places where the culturati and celebrity elite mingled with high society and with violent figures of the underworld - and had a good time doing it.
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Story of 20 through the eyes of a madam
- By HMY on 12-12-21
By: Debby Applegate
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Avenue of Spies
- A True Story of Terror, Espionage, and One American Family's Heroic Resistance in Nazi-Occupied Paris
- By: Alex Kershaw
- Narrated by: Mark Deakins
- Length: 7 hrs and 14 mins
- Unabridged
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The leafy Avenue de Foch, one of the most exclusive residential streets in Nazi-occupied France, was Paris' hotbed of daring spies, murderous secret police, amoral informers, and Vichy collaborators. So when American physician Sumner Jackson, who lived with his wife and young son, Phillip, at Number 11, found himself drawn into the Liberation network of the French resistance, he knew the stakes were impossibly high.
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Gripping, inspirational, and informative!!
- By Constance M. Specht on 09-26-15
By: Alex Kershaw
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The Opposite of Butterfly Hunting
- The Tragedy and The Glory of Growing Up; A Memoir
- By: Evanna Lynch
- Narrated by: Evanna Lynch
- Length: 13 hrs and 1 min
- Unabridged
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Evanna Lynch’s casting as Luna Lovegood in the Harry Potter films is a tale that grew to almost mythic proportions - a legend of how she faced disordered eating as a young girl, found solace in a beloved book series, and later landed the part of her favorite character. But that is not the whole story.
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Makes you feel, makes you think
- By Matthew Connerton on 11-05-21
By: Evanna Lynch
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Against the Ice
- The Classic Arctic Survival Story
- By: Ejnar Mikkelsen, Nikolaj Coster-Waldau - foreword, Maurice Michael - translator
- Narrated by: Tristan Wright
- Length: 7 hrs and 17 mins
- Unabridged
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Ejnar Mikkelsen was devoted to Arctic exploration. In 1910 he decided to search for the diaries of the ill-fated Mylius-Erichsen expedition, which had set out to prove that Robert Peary’s outline of the East Greenland coast was a myth, erroneous and presumably self-serving. Iver Iversen was a mechanic who joined Mikkelsen in Iceland when the expedition’s boat needed repair.
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Accent
- By Sarabeth on 03-03-22
By: Ejnar Mikkelsen, and others
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The Rasputin File
- By: Edvard Radzinsky, Judson Rosengrant - translator
- Narrated by: Edoardo Ballerini
- Length: 22 hrs and 26 mins
- Unabridged
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For almost a century, historians could only speculate about the role Grigory Rasputin played in the downfall of tsarist Russia. But in 1995 a lost file from the state archives turned up, a file that contained the complete interrogations of Rasputin's inner circle. With this extensive and explicit amplification of the historical record, Edvard Radzinsky has written a definitive biography, reconstructing in full the fascinating life of an improbable holy man who changed the course of Russian history.
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Good old Radzinsky
- By Babs on 03-13-18
By: Edvard Radzinsky, and others
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The Education of Corporal John Musgrave
- Vietnam and Its Aftermath
- By: John Musgrave
- Narrated by: John Musgrave
- Length: 9 hrs and 38 mins
- Unabridged
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Musgrave writes honestly about his struggle to balance his deep love for the Marine Corps against his responsibility as a citizen to protect the very troops asked to protect America at all costs. Fiercely perceptive and candid, The Education of Corporal John Musgrave is one of the most powerful memoirs to emerge from the war.
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There are not enough stars
- By Possum Bean on 11-24-21
By: John Musgrave
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The Golden Thirteen
- How Black Men Won the Right to Wear Navy Gold
- By: Dan Goldberg
- Narrated by: Sam Manual
- Length: 8 hrs and 50 mins
- Unabridged
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Through oral histories and original interviews with surviving family members, Dan Goldberg brings 13 forgotten heroes away from the margins of history and into the spotlight. He reveals the opposition these men faced: the racist pseudoscience, the regular condescension, the repeated epithets, the verbal abuse, and even violence. Despite these immense challenges, the Golden Thirteen persisted—understanding the power of integration, the opportunities for black Americans if they succeeded, and the consequences if they failed.
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The Golden 13 is a must read for American history
- By BE on 03-24-21
By: Dan Goldberg
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A Kim Jong-Il Production
- The Extraordinary True Story of a Kidnapped Filmmaker, His Star Actress, and a Young Dictator's Rise to Power
- By: Paul Fischer
- Narrated by: Stephen Park
- Length: 12 hrs and 26 mins
- Unabridged
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Before becoming the world's most notorious dictator, Kim Jong-Il ran North Korea's Ministry for Propaganda and its film studios. Conceiving every movie made, he acted as producer and screenwriter. Despite this control, he was underwhelmed by the available talent and took drastic steps, ordering the kidnapping of Choi Eun-Hee (Madam Choi) - South Korea's most famous actress - and her ex-husband Shin Sang-Ok, the country's most famous filmmaker.
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Absolutely terrifying
- By Anonymous on 02-19-15
By: Paul Fischer
What listeners say about Paradise Falls
Average customer ratingsReviews - Please select the tabs below to change the source of reviews.
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- Ashley Kissinger
- 03-30-23
Quite the story!
It grabs you right from the beginning! If you don’t know of the love canal, read this! An Erin Brokovich like story about taking on the state and corporations from a neighborhood in Niagara Falls! Astounding!!! Bravo to the writer and narrator!
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- Jill Fine
- 05-09-22
Fascinating story I hadn’t heard
I’m 48 and hadn’t heard about this catastrophe. This is a well reported and paced story and nicely read.
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- I. Smith
- 08-13-23
Great book
Anyone who grew up in the late 70s remembers Love Canal. The people in this book that fought for the legislation and remediation should be congratulated for not giving up and for changing the attitudes of the nation.
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- J. C. Edens
- 11-20-24
Incredible work of everyday people
I loved this book, and learned so much about how the tireless work of housewives, scientists, congressional staffers (so many of them women) brought this disaster to light and fought for some kind of resolution. Great choice on narrator too.
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- Alan M. Polansky
- 09-05-22
Compounds are Not Elements
Very good overall- but some of the science terms are muddled up. Narrator is great and the overall story is very interesting - if not but a little depressing. A very important event in US history.
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- scott
- 04-19-22
Gripping….
This is an extraordinary story. I grew up in the area and once lived in North Tonawanda, not far from Love Canal.
The author is quite simply an skillful and gripping story teller. I was enthralled the entire book.
Outstanding. Truly.
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- Susan
- 04-28-22
Love Canal must be remembered
This book tells the story of the earth days of the collective awareness of environmental disasters. I remember it clearly, as I was a young mother when it was happening and was horrified by it.
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- ARTHUR KLEIN
- 08-25-22
A must read for today.
I was familiar with most of the high points and details of the Love Canal and nearly passed on the book as a result.
But O’Briens detailed narrative of the incredible slow acceptance by authorities of the results of the dangerous chemical mixes on the people living there. The new telling includes the irony of Governor Hugh Carey and others who sought to downplay the impacts on the public health then in the end were forced to relocate all the threatened out of harms way.
The thread through the book is the slow realization of Lois Gibbs and Luella Kennedy to the harm to their families and the electrifying tale of their transformation from quiet citizens to tree shaking movers who challenged and converted official indifference to the Creation of the Superfund to clean up national Love Canals.
O’Brien fits everything into his neat and thorough story. He includes Louis Nizer, Buffalo’s Catholic Diocese and it’s royalty trying to stifle Sister Malone and the many doubters who slowed but did not stop Richard Lippes and Gibbs from saving the lives of near forgotten victims of Corporate indifference in the well described actions and words of Armand Hammer.
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- Natalie Hochadel
- 03-21-24
Local history
A good read of Niagara Falls history or for anyone who lives in the Buffalo area! I had heard about this growing up but now to put names and to the faces is so fascinating.
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- Anonymous User
- 08-05-22
Detailed and Well-rounded
This book does a fantastic job of outlining the story of an environmental disaster. I appreciate that multiple perspectives were given with context for why someone acted a certain way and factors that may have influenced decisions and behavior. A tragic story but one that we can definitely learn from.
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