Zoellner, Tom

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Zoellner, Tom

PERSONAL:

Male.

ADDRESSES:

HomeNew York, NY.

CAREER:

San Francisco Chronicle, San Francisco CA, former reporter.

WRITINGS:

The Heartless Stone: A Journey through the World of Diamonds, Deceit, and Desire, St. Martin's Press (New York, NY), 2006.

(With Paul Rusesabagina) An Ordinary Man: An Autobiography, Viking (New York, NY), 2006.

Former contributing editor, Men's Health.

ADAPTATIONS:

An Ordinary Man: A Biography was adapted for audio (seven CDs), Penguin Audio, 2006.

SIDELIGHTS:

Journalist Tom Zoellner was inspired to write his first book, The Heartless Stone: A Journey through the World of Diamonds, Deceit, and Desire, when a broken engagement left him with a diamond ring. His obsession with the piece of carbon took him around the globe in a quest across six continents. He learned about the history of diamond mining, including how Cecil Rhodes founded the De Beers diamond company and cornered the African diamond market during the 1870s, thereby creating an artificial rarity that escalated prices of the gems. De Beers continues to dominate the trade in diamonds and is the originator of the slogan "A diamond is forever," which created the desire and tradition of diamonds as a demonstration of love.

In an interview with a BookBrowse online writer, Zoellner talked about the marketing of diamonds and also of the horrendous conditions under which miners often work. He described "blood diamonds," which he said "are diamonds that are mined in violent places and used to buy guns and landmines. Children are also forced to pick up shovels and dig for stones that eventually will become a part of somebody's wedding ring in America. At one point not so long ago, nearly one in six of the diamonds sold in this country had probably come from such circumstances." Zoellner said that after all he has learned, he will never buy another diamond again.

In reviewing The Heartless Stone for Corporate Counsel, Amy Vincent wrote: "Writing with a reporter's clarity and a novelist's flair, Zoellner makes his readers feel the sweat of a smuggler's route in a Brazilian jungle and the chill of a trek through the Canada permafrost. Although his book is inevitably episodic, Zoellner crafts a narrative sweep that carries the reader from one chapter to the next, continent after continent, until the pieces come together to reveal the diamond industry as a whole."

Zoellner cowrote the autobiography of Paul Rusesabagina, who was portrayed by Don Cheadle in the film Hotel Rwanda. Rusesabagina, who was manager of the Hotel Des Milles Collines during the Rwandan genocide, sheltered more than 1,200 Tutsis and moderate Hutus, saving them from certain death. The book was published after the movie had been released and nominated for Academy Awards. Suzi Steffen, who reviewed the book for Etude online, noted that the modest Rusesabagina does not come across as a hero, as he was portrayed in the film, but rather is proud of his actions and decries the lack of action by others, including Romeo Dallaire of the United Nations and President Bill Clinton. He notes how little it would have cost the United States to disrupt Hutu radio communication and thus derail their genocidal plans. Steffen noted the "burning luck and courage at the heart of this hotel manager's narrative. Don't read it for its literary qualities (though it is well written); read it because it must be read."

BIOGRAPHICAL AND CRITICAL SOURCES:

PERIODICALS

African Business, July, 2006, review of An Ordinary Man: An Autobiography, p. 65.

Booklist, June 1, 2006, Gilbert Taylor, review of The Heartless Stone: A Journey through the World of Diamonds, Deceit, and Desire, p. 15.

Biography, summer, 2006, David M. Malone, review of An Ordinary Man, p. 538.

Corporate Counsel, August, 2006, Amy Vincent, review of The Heartless Stone, p. 131.

Kirkus Reviews, April 15, 2006, review of The Heartless Stone, p. 400.

Library Journal, May 1, 2006, Jennifer Zarr, review of The Heartless Stone, p. 109.

Publishers Weekly, April 3, 2006, review of The Heartless Stone, p. 55.

School Library Journal, September, 2006, Brigeen Radoicich, review of The Heartless Stone, p. 251.

ONLINE

BookBrowse,http://www.bookbrowse.com/ (November 22, 2006), interview.

Entertainment Weekly Online,http://www.ew.com/ (June 2, 2006), Karen Valby, review of The Heartless Stone.

Etude Onlinehttp://etude.uoregon.edu/ (November 22, 2006), Suzi Steffen, review of An Ordinary Man. *