eShop USA > Books > State of Fear
State of Fear
Our Price: $7.99 Prices subject to change.
Availability: Usually ships in 24 hours
Buy 4 eligible items in the 4-for-3 promotion offered by Amazon.com and get 1 of them free.
Binding: Mass Market Paperback
Dewey Decimal Number: 813.54
EAN: 9780061015731
ISBN: 0061015733
Label: Avon
Manufacturer: Avon
Number Of Items: 1
Number Of Pages: 672
Publication Date: November 01, 2005
Publisher: Avon
Release Date: October 25, 2005
Studio: Avon
Related Items: Featured Listmania!
Editorial Review:
Amazon.com Exclusive Content
A Michael Crichton Timeline
Amazon.com reveals a few facts about the "father of the techno-thriller."  1942: John Michael Crichton is born in Chicago, Illinois on Oct. 23. 1960: Crichton graduates from Roslyn High School on Long Island, New York, with high marks and a reputation as a star basketball player. He decides to attend Harvard University to study English. During his studies, he rankles under his writing professors' criticism. As an act of rebellion, Crichton submits an essay by George Orwell as his own. The professor doesnt catch the plagiarism and gives Orwell a B-. This experience convinces Crichton to change his field of study to anthropology. 1964: Crichton graduates summa cum laude from Harvard University in anthropology. After studying further as a visiting lecturer at Cambridge University and receiving the Henry Russell Shaw Travelling Fellowship, which allowed him to travel in Europe and North Africa, Crichton begins coursework at the Harvard School of Medicine. To help fund his medical endeavors, he writes spy thrillers under several pen names. One of these works, A Case of Need, wins the 1968 Mystery Writers of America's Edgar Allan Poe Award. 1969: Crichton graduates from Harvard Medical school and is accepted as a post-doctoral fellow at the Salk Institute for Biological Science in La Jolla, Calif. However, his career in medicine is waylaid by the publication of the first novel under his own name, The Andromeda Strain. The novel, about an apocalyptic plague, climbs high on bestseller lists and is later made into a popular film. Crichton said of his decision to pursue writing full time: "To quit medicine to become a writer struck most people like quitting the Supreme Court to become a bail bondsman." 1972: Crichton's second novel under his own name The Terminal Man, is published. Also, two of Crichton's previous works under his pen names, Dealing and A Case of Need are made into movies. After watching the filming, Crichton decides to try his hand at directing. He will eventually direct seven films including the 1973 science-fiction hit Westworld, which was the first film ever to use computer-generated effects. 1980: Crichton draws on his anthropology background and fascination with new technology to create Congo, a best-selling novel about a search for industrial diamonds and a new race of gorillas. The novel, patterned after the adventure writings of H. Ryder Haggard, updates the genre with the inclusion of high-tech gadgets that, although may seem quaint 20 years later, serve to set Crichton's work apart and he begins to cement his reputation as "the father of the techno-thriller." 1990: After the 1980s, which saw the publication of the underwater adventure Sphere (1987) and an invitation to become a visiting writer at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (1988), Crichton begins the new decade with a bang via the publication of his most popular novel, Jurassic Park. The book is a powerful example of Crichton's use of science and technology as the bedrock for his work. Heady discussion of genetic engineering, chaos theory, and paleontology run throughout the tightly-wound thriller that strands a crew of scientists on an island populated by cloned dinosaurs run amok. The novel inspires the 1993 Steven Spielberg film, and together book and film will re-ignite the worlds fascination with dinosaurs. 1995: Crichton resurrects an idea from his medical school days to create the Emmy-Award Winning television series ER. In this year, ER won eight Emmys and Crichton received an award from the Producers Guild of America in the category of outstanding multi-episodic series. Set in an insanely busy an often dangerous Chicago emergency room, the fast-paced drama is defined by Crichton's now trademark use of technical expertise and insider jargon. The year also saw the publication of The Lost World returning readers to the dinosaur-infested island. 2000: In recognition for Crichton's contribution in popularizing paleontology, a dinosaur discovered in southern China is named after him. "Crichton's ankylosaur" is a small, armored plant-eating dinosaur that dates to the early Jurassic Period, about 180 million years ago. "For a person like me, this is much better than an Academy Award," Crichton said of the honor. 2004: Crichtons newest thriller State of Fear is published. 
Amazon.com's Significant Seven
Michael Crichton kindly agreed to take the life quiz we like to give to all our authors: the Amazon.com Significant Seven. Q: What book has had the most significant impact on your life?
A: Prisoners of Childhood by Alice Miller Q: You are stranded on a desert island with only one book, one CD, and one DVD--what are they?
A: Tao Te Ching by Lao Tzu (Witter Bynner version)
Symphony #2 in D Major by Johannes Brahms (Georg Solti)
Ikiru by Akira Kurosawa Q: What is the worst lie you've ever told?
A: Surely you're joking. Q: Describe the perfect writing environment.
A: Small room. Shades down. No daylight. No disturbances. Macintosh with a big screen. Plenty of coffee. Quiet. Q: If you could write your own epitaph, what would it say?
A: I don't want an epitaph. If forced, I would say "Why Are You Here? Go Live Your Life." Q: Who is the one person living or dead that you would like to have dinner with?
A: Benjamin Franklin Q: If you could have one superpower what would it be?
A: Invisibility
In Tokyo, in Los Angeles, in Antarctica, in the Solomon Islands . . . an intelligence agent races to put all the pieces together to prevent a global catastrophe.
Customer Reviews
Average Rating: 
Rating:  - Very Enjoyable...
After just finishing "State of Fear," I found the book to be very enjoyable. Michael Crichton, as always, does a phenomenal job of educating the reader about current issues, while using real-life data to support his view.
In this book, it's largely about global warming and its affect on various environmental issues. Particularly, it's about an organization known as NERF that's sole goal is to help the environment. As is typical with organizations like this, the bureaucracy causes the ... Read More
Rating:  - Good one
There are a lot of strong opinions on the book and for good reason. The book covers some controversial issues: I.E. validity in the globaly warming theory. I thought that the story was excellently paced and exciting while scattered with carefully selected pieces of information regarding global warming.
Regardless of your stance on the -theory- of global warming it should be emphasized that people are profitting, GREATLY, from the concept. Even if you are a die hard advocate of the theory ... Read More
Rating:  - State of Fear by Michael Crichton
It is nothing wrong with being a contrarian about Global Warming, and especially pointing out all the special interests that play on the public fear to enrich themselves. Michael Crichton made a good point about that, and that's the best part about this book. The story however is most contrived, incomplete, and amateurish. I was shocked that this book ever saw the light of print.
Rating: - Below Crichton Standars
This book has raised the most controversy of all his work. In my opinion he misleads the reader on Global Warming, he defenitely mislead me, only after further study I came up with different facts on the subject. I love his writing and the story is ok, you have to understand that some of his books start by confusing the reader on what is real and actual and what is fiction, is his style. But I do recommend reading further information about global warming before making any judment about the subject.
Rating: - An Inconvenient Novel
The unusual twist of this novel, reminiscent of Arthur Hailey's "Overload" from over 20 years ago, is that the usual "good guys", the environmental crusaders and protectors, have mutated into the villains who try to orchestrate cataclysmic events they can use to build political appeal for an otherwise dubious cause. Crichton's book may see a revival as many people grow tired of being harangued for their large carbon footprints by people living in mansions and flying charter jets. Interestingly, one of his ... Read More
Related Categories:
|
