Ninety Percent of Everything

Inside Shipping, the Invisible Industry That Puts Clothes on Your Back, Gas in Your Car, and Food on Your Plate

By: Rose George

Narrated by: Pearl Hewitt

Length: 9 hrs and 33 mins

Publisher's summary

On ship-tracking websites, the waters are black with dots. Each dot is a ship; each ship is laden with boxes; each box is laden with goods. In postindustrial economies, we no longer produce but buy. We buy, so we must ship. Without all those dots, the world would not work.

Freight shipping has been no less revolutionary than the printing press or the Internet, yet it is all but invisible. Away from public scrutiny, shipping revels in suspect practices, dubious operators, and a shady system. Infesting our waters, poisoning our air, and a prime culprit of acoustic pollution, shipping is environmentally indefensible. And then there are the pirates.

Rose George, acclaimed chronicler of what we would rather ignore, sails from Rotterdam to Suez to Singapore on ships the length of football fields and the height of Niagara Falls; she patrols the Indian Ocean with an antipiracy task force; she joins seafaring chaplains and investigates the harm that ships inflict on endangered whales.

Sharply informative and entertaining, Ninety Percent of Everything reveals the workings and perils of an unseen world that holds the key to our economy, our environment, and our very civilization.

©2013 Rose George (P)2017 Tantor

Critic reviews

“Consistently absorbing...Timely as well as deft...George's spirited book cracks open a vast, treacherous and largely ignored world.” ( The New York Times)

Startling

Given how important shipping is to our lives, its shocking how little the average person knows. The author does a marvelous job of telling the story by embedding it within an actual voyage aboard a container ship.

Good book about something we rarely think about

Good detail and history about something we rarely think about but is absolutely needed. highly recommend

You will learn a lot... buy this book.

What made the experience of listening to Ninety Percent of Everything the most enjoyable?

I learned so much reading this book... from what life is like aboard a container ship to the incredible impact this industry has had on our society. The author doesn't dwell too long on any particular topic and liked it that way.

Have you listened to any of Pearl Hewitt’s other performances before? How does this one compare?

I have never heard this narrator before, but I thought she was well-cast. She sounded like she could have been the author... seemed well-connected to the material.

Insight into "the human element" of shipping

George weaves in history, facts, and her opinions on shipping, labor practices, pirates, merchant navies, whales, and sea rescues into her experience riding a container ship with its crew. Eye-opening for a reader who otherwise has little to no exposure to the day to day work of seafarers who keep global supply chains moving.

Take a peek into the world of shipping

This book tells stories of modern-day shipping and the effects of shipping on the world and the mariners who manage these massive ships. Rose George is an outsider in the shipping industry, so do not expect otherwise. She writes about her perspective and shows shipping in a way that we (who are not closely associated with the industry) can't see because of the "sea blindness" that we have on land. She speaks not only of the crew and their responsibilities and day-to-day lives but about the effects shipping has had on marine ecosystems. Her focus on pirates is also incredibly interesting because of the differing views between her and the crew. This book is INCREDIBLY interesting and unveils the shipping industry that feels disconnected from the rest of the world, even though it is what holds the world together.

Nice story.

I found the authors reluctance to explore the ship disappointing. Basicly it's a tourism guide with pirate stories.
Some economics are thrown in for fun.

Comprehensive and Entertaining

This is a comprehensive look at this industry that has such a large impact on our lives. This book does not simply focus on one aspect, but a multitude of what affects this industry has on the climate, people, and the oceans themselves. I learned a lot, and enjoyed this audio book.

astonishingly good!

Rose George is a truly amazing writer. This book opened my eyes to an industry essential to everyone's existence but otherwise invisible. I think I would read anything she chooses to write about next!

Not exactly what I expected….

Would you say that listening to this book was time well-spent? Why or why not?

Overall I am glad I read this book. It had a lot of information but not exactly what I expected. I expected more info about the chain and detail of transporting t shirts, food, construction materials, etc. But on the other hand, I learned about whales, merchant marines, surviving at sea. Like I said, it could be me.

Would you recommend Ninety Percent of Everything to your friends? Why or why not?

Yes and no. Depends on what they are interested in.

Which character – as performed by Pearl Hewitt – was your favorite?

The Captain of the Kendall…..

If this book were a movie would you go see it?

No

Any additional comments?

It was worth reading because in the book there was a saying (gem of wisdom) that has served me well. Thank for that!

The first 5 chapters are great

Skip the whales and Vasco de Gama parts. They get really off topic. I think she just didn’t have enough for a book.