The Body Hunters: Testing New Drugs on the World's Poorest Patients

By Sonia Shah Preface by John Le Carre

(New Press, 2006)

Imagine the uproar if dozens of drug–trial patients in America were to perish from deadly side effects known to the FDA. Consider the commotion if AIDS babies in Europe were to die while being administered placebos rather than potentially life–saving drugs. These scandals did happen—just elsewhere. In The Body Hunters, investigative journalist Sonia Shah describes drug trials in places like India and Zambia that would have occasioned outrage if conducted in the developed world.

Crude: The Story of Oil

By Sonia Shah

(Seven Stories Press, 2004)

Crude is the unexpurgated story of oil, from the circumstances of its birth millions of years ago to the spectacle of its rise as the indispensable ingredient of modern life. In addition to fueling our SUVs and illuminating our cities, crude oil and its byproducts fertilize our produce, pave our roads, and make plastic possible. ?Newborn babies,? observes author Sonia Shah, ?slide from their mothers into petro–plastic-gloved hands, are swaddled in petro–polyester blankets, and are hurried off to be warmed by oil-burning heaters.? The modern world is drenched in oil; Crude tells how it came to be. A great human drama emerges, of discovery and innovation, risk, the promise of riches, and the power of greed.

Dragon Ladies: Asian American Feminists Breathe Fire

Edited by Sonia Shah

(South End Press, 1997)

Still in print after more than a decade! The seminal collection of writings by Asian American feminists.

In Dragon Ladies, prominent Asian American women writers, artists, and activists seize the power of their unique political perspective and cultural background to articulate an Asian American feminist politics and to transform the landscape of race, class, and gender in the United States.