Oil on the Brain:
Adventures from the Pump to the Pipeline
By Lisa Margonelli
(DOUBLEDAY, $26)
THE STORY OF OIL IS, in many respects, the story of America, defining both corporate and consumer culture. Yet we tend to think about it only when it's expensive—or an impetus for war. Oil on the Brain is a timely and surprisingly readable, even funny account of one woman's journey along the crude-petroleum supply chain, from the pumps at her San Francisco convenience store back to the oil fields in Chad and Iran. Along the way, she explores the maddening volatility of gas prices, concluding that it's as much about psychology as supply. The bluster of one megalomaniac African warlord with a cell phone can send a ripple worth millions through global markets; ditto the posturing of Venezuelan president Hugo Chávez. Oil, she writes, is "Exhibit A in his theater of balls and revenge." Margonelli's journey is a lesson in Oil 101—with some fine vinegar thrown in.—FLORENCE WILLIAMS