Tom Zoellner has worked as a contributing editor for Men's Health magazine and as a reporter for the San Francisco Chronicle. He is also the coauthor of An Ordinary Man, the autobiography of Rwandan hotel manager Paul Rusesabagina. He lives in New York City.
"[A] dazzling display of intrepid reporting." --Entertainment Weekly "Exhaustively researched and beautifully written." --The Atlanta Journal-Constitution "Zoellner has an eye for the telling detail, a nose for trouble, and an ability to quickly re-create a scene's mood and sense of place. Wherever he is, he puts you there. . . . A graceful, well-documented tour through decades of diamond-related lore." --Salon.com "An illuminating exposé of a mineral and an industry." --The Wall Street Journal "Still want a diamond? Before laying out your cash, Zoellner advises that you first understand its origins. . . . An informative book that's equal parts history and travelogue." --Rocky Mountain News "Riveting . . . A fascinating story." --The Arizona Republic "A sobering and well-reported look at today's diamond culture." --The Salt Lake Tribune "Eye-opening . . . With a sharp narrative style and wealth of detail, The Heartless Stone cuts through the sparkle and marketing to show us that a rock is what you make of it." --St. Petersburg Times "[Tom Zoellner's] investigation into the global diamond industry shatters the mystique with all the vengeance of a jilted lover." --The Oregonian "A mesmerizing guided tour full of meticulously researched history, interviews, personal stories, and reflections. The Heartless Stone is scrupulous nonfiction that reads like a novel." --Bloomberg News "It's got all the requisite ingredients of intriguing journalism: greed, sex, gaping economic disparities, and glamour. It's too bad it took a failed engagement to prompt this book, but Zoellner has risen from the romantic ashes with The Heartless Stone. . . . He doesn't miss a stop on the diamond road, hopping from Africa to South America to the British Isles in pursuit of the gem whose exclusivity is based only on the tight control of a few greedy individuals. That little blue Tiffany box might never look the same." --Bookmarks magazine "Zoellner's sharp, observant descriptions of people and places will sensitize readers to the wider processes of monopoly, smuggling, and war, all of which lurk in the background when a suitor buys a ring for his beloved." --Booklist "Zoellner's book is part personal travelogue, using the return of his own proffered diamond engagement ring as the starting point, and part investigative journalism. . . . The end result? A gem." --Library Journal
"[A] dazzling display of intrepid reporting." --Entertainment Weekly "Exhaustively researched and beautifully written." --The Atlanta Journal-Constitution "Zoellner has an eye for the telling detail, a nose for trouble, and an ability to quickly re-create a scene's mood and sense of place. Wherever he is, he puts you there. . . . A graceful, well-documented tour through decades of diamond-related lore." --Salon.com "An illuminating expose of a mineral and an industry." --The Wall Street Journal "Still want a diamond? Before laying out your cash, Zoellner advises that you first understand its origins. . . . An informative book that's equal parts history and travelogue." --Rocky Mountain News "Riveting . . . A fascinating story." --The Arizona Republic "A sobering and well-reported look at today's diamond culture." --The Salt Lake Tribune "Eye-opening . . . With a sharp narrative style and wealth of detail, The Heartless Stone cuts through the sparkle and marketing to show us that a rock is what you make of it." --St. Petersburg Times "[Tom Zoellner's] investigation into the global diamond industry shatters the mystique with all the vengeance of a jilted lover." --The Oregonian "A mesmerizing guided tour full of meticulously researched history, interviews, personal stories, and reflections. The Heartless Stone is scrupulous nonfiction that reads like a novel." --Bloomberg News "It's got all the requisite ingredients of intriguing journalism: greed, sex, gaping economic disparities, and glamour. It's too bad it took a failed engagement to prompt this book, but Zoellner has risen from the romantic ashes with The Heartless Stone. . . . He doesn't miss a stop on the diamond road, hopping from Africa to South America to the British Isles in pursuit of the gem whose exclusivity is based only on the tight control of a few greedy individuals. That little blue Tiffany box might never look the same." --Bookmarks magazine "Zoellner's sharp, observant descriptions of people and places will sensitize readers to the wider processes of monopoly, smuggling, and war, all of which lurk in the background when a suitor buys a ring for his beloved." --Booklist "Zoellner's book is part personal travelogue, using the return of his own proffered diamond engagement ring as the starting point, and part investigative journalism. . . . The end result? A gem." --Library Journal
Adult/High School-Historically, the workings of the diamond industry, heavily controlled until recently by the De Beers cartel, have been filled with clandestine meetings and covert operations, and its mythos even pervades popular culture. Zoellner has traveled the globe learning about the remarkably large supply of diamonds both mined and manufactured for industrial cutting and the jewelry trade. In the countries where they are mined, they represent both auspicious wealth and abject poverty. The citizens have long been exploited by international corporate investors and bloodthirsty local warlords anxious to supply the public with a token of eternal love. Teens may be surprised to learn that the "must have" diamond engagement ring is the result of a brilliant 1930s De Beers marketing strategy, which sought to influence the thoughts, tastes, habits, and fashions of Middle America. Heavy promotion and forced scarcity continue to fuel our inclination for the gems. Readers will be alternately fascinated and reviled by this expos?, which is equally well suited to casual reading and research.-Brigeen Radoicich, Fresno County Office of Education, CA Copyright 2006 Reed Business Information.
The United States is the biggest consumer of diamonds in the world, yet the gemstones are largely mined in areas far from our shores-in Africa, the Northwest Territories of Canada, and Australia. Zoellner (contributing editor, Men's Health magazine) investigates a diamond's often brutal journey from miles below the earth to the jewelry store display case. In the author's own words, "a diamond that goes on to sparkle on the left hand of a bride in Minnesota may have been once pulled from the lower intestine of a slain Congolese miner." Zoellner spans several continents to discover all that is embodied in a diamond, encountering miners, smugglers, geologists, and government officials; assessing scientific, political, and philosophical realities; and separating truth from myth. His book is part personal travelog, using the return of his own proffered diamond engagement ring as the starting point, and part investigative journalism (although he compiles information more than he discovers new facts). The end result? A gem. Recommended for large public and academic libraries.-Jennifer Zarr, NYPL Copyright 2006 Reed Business Information.
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