Wastelands

The True Story of Farm Country on Trial

By: Corban Addison, John Grisham - foreword

Narrated by: Rob Shapiro

Length: 16 hrs and 16 mins

Publisher's summary

"Beautifully written, impeccably researched, and told with the air of suspense that few writers can handle, Wastelands is a story I wish I had written."—From the Foreword by John Grisham

The once idyllic coastal plain of North Carolina is home to a close-knit, rural community that for more than a generation has battled the polluting practices of large-scale farming taking place in its own backyard. After years of frustration and futility, an impassioned cadre of local residents, led by a team of intrepid and dedicated lawyers, filed a lawsuit against one of the world’s most powerful companies—and, miraculously, they won.

As vivid and fast-paced as a thriller, Wastelands takes us into the heart of a legal battle over the future of America’s farmland and into the lives of the people who found the courage to fight.

There is Elsie Herring, the most outspoken of the neighbors, who has endured racial slurs and the threat of a restraining order to tell the story of the waste raining down on her rooftop from the hog operation next door. There is Don Webb, a larger-than-life hog farmer turned grassroots crusader, and Rick Dove, a riverkeeper and erstwhile military judge who has pioneered the use of aerial photography to document the scale of the pollution. There is Woodell McGowan, a quiet man whose quest to redeem his family’s ancestral land encourages him to become a better neighbor, and Dr. Steve Wing, a groundbreaking epidemiologist whose work on the health effects of hog waste exposure translates the neighbors’ stories into the argot of science. And there is Tom Butler, an environmental savant and hog industry insider whose whistleblowing testimony electrifies the jury.

Fighting alongside them in the courtroom is Mona Lisa Wallace, who broke the gender barrier in her small southern town and built a storied legal career out of vanquishing corporate giants, and Mike Kaeske, whose trial skills are second to none.

With journalistic rigor and a novelist’s instinct for story, Corban Addison's Wastelands captures the inspiring struggle to bring a modern-day monopoly to its knees, to force a once-invincible corporation to change, and to preserve the rights—and restore the heritage—of a long-suffering community.

©2022 Corban Addison and John Grisham (P)2022 Random House Audio

Critic reviews

“In this book, Addison turns a novelist’s eye to the thorny complexities of a real legal case. The prose is lyrical, the cast of characters jump to life on the page, and the result is a captivating account of how a small group of citizens bring a huge corporation to justice."—Jonathan Harr, author of the #1 national bestseller A Civil Action

“Deeply researched and crafted like a legal thriller . . . Corban Addison turns to nonfiction to tell this harrowing story of a large-scale, industrial hog farm with a long history of polluting a community on the coast of North Carolina and the heroic efforts individuals in the community.”—The Atlanta Journal-Constitution

“Inspiring. . . absorbing. . . in this page-turning exposé of corporate malfeasance, . . . [Addison] strikingly underscores why American courts are so often a last resort for those wronged by structural economic injustice.”—Kirkus Reviews [starred review]

Fantastic

This was a hard book to put down. Riveting at a personal and intellectual level. The characters are portrayed in three dimensions as are the court proceedings. I’m also contemplating going full vegan.

Land Owners Rights 🙏

Great piece of work about property owners rights vs large industry and reversing as a bell ringer story!

Justice Delayed but Not Denied

An utterly riveting story of the fight for environmental, community and individual justice in North Carolina farm country. The courtroom drama is real, and taken to an exponential level given the complexity and stakes of the cases.

Eyes wide open

Great storytelling. Best nonfiction novel in a long time. My heart goes out to those that endured the horrible living conditions. And my anger, a righteous indignation, goes toward those who refuse to acknowledge the hog $#!*. Happy for the history lesson. Can't believe it's a current subject that still needs to be addressed. Much praise for the law team that stood for truth and refused to back down under the Hog empire.

Riveting

À true story so beautifully crafted that it is as exciting to read as any fictional tale. I could not put it down. There is courage and greed, grace and deceit, much to admire and much to despise. The hidden suffering of both people and animals is heartbreaking luckily balanced by bravery, strength and compassion. A rich, very worthwhile read.

Wonderful!

I couldn’t stop listening!
Absolutely riveting and we’ll done!
Corbin is magical!
Next listen now!

Justice for not only people, but the animals and the land thru the hard efforts of the legal warriors and brave plaintiffs.

Incredibly well written and narrated! What an amazing true story - a must read for anyone who cares about people, farm animals, and the land.

We need more books like this.

True story, courtroom drama, environmental issue—yes like Civil Action and Erin Brockovich but more than that— it’s about environmental justice. People of color and the poor have always been shoved onto undesirable real estate. And confined animal feeding operations have to go somewhere; it’s not like they’re going to put them in the middle of Beverly Hills.

The connection to appropriate reparations for harm done to people of color is weaved throughout the plot. Atticus Finch even came to my mind during the court trial. The people in this book had ancestors who were enslaved and now white farmers were saying that they didn’t have to respect their property rights. Their right to farm, in their mind, is more important than their neighbors’ right to enjoy their property.

What if that neighbor was the governor?

This story is well told, with description that transports the reader to any location the author wishes. character description is also spot on and the reader starts to imagine various stars who might be cast in these roles.

I love a book with a mission.

Defacement of power

Every once an and awhile the good guys win, advocates find a way to submit the truth in a manner that is believed and power is overcome. This is the story of how this particular collision of right and power came about came about. You won’t want put it down.

Great!

Well worth the read. Inspirational and good to see justice occasionally prevail in this corrupt world.