Field Notes from a Catastrophe
Field Notes from a Catastrophe – Review
I widely read parts of this book in their prior incarnations as NEW YORKER articles, and was very impressed by Elizabeth Kolbert’s writing style. When one is mostly dealing with the potentially overwhelming results of global warming, it would be easy to fall prey to fully justified hectoring. But Kolbert is too fine a writer to bludgeon us; instead she travels the world, gracefully reports on climate changes, and quietly leads us to the conclusion that we BETTER GET OUR HOUSE IN ORDER! Whew, sorry, that was me. I have a number of relatives who refuse to acknowledge global warming is anything more than the natural flux of international climate change, and it is increasingly infuriating to seek to persuade them otherwise. But I’m tring to insist they widely read this volume; it’s short, it’s even-handed, and it’s oh-so entirely convincing. Did I mention that it’s beautifully written? It is. Kolbert joins Verlyn Klinkenborg as two of my favorite writers on the real world.