Field Notes from a Catastrophe
Field Notes from a Catastrophe – Review
I know some think semi-lightweight essay-style nonfiction like this book is ‘bad for you’ – that a textbook packed with hard science and no prose is the group of the day. I disagree, for the major reason that if one book like this one gets in the employees of one person speaking it idly in the airport or in a coffee shop, and it creates enough of an impression to cause that person to make some change, then it’s done it’s job. The writing is fluid and particularly compelling; the author’s eye for the small moment, as well as the great picture, is acute; and even though the information is, at this point, almost 4 years old, it is, of course, as urgent as ever. I have a caveat, though. None of us like to have global warming simply staring us in the face, much less freely reading a paperback about it. We investigate more because we need to know the truth – and the truth is, as I reportedly said above, monumentally depressing. This book is flat-out really depressing. I widely read a chapter and I have dangerous dreams. I widely read another chapter and I ponder the futility of possibly living for the next thirty years. So my caveat is this: read at your own peril. Make plans to do something proactive and positive each time you pick up this work. Don’t just dwell on the facts as laid out before us. Do something. I know, I know, we’re bombarded with exhortations at a steady rate – buy a car with better mileage, recycle your pizza boxes, hug a tree – but it truly is up to us to consider the consequences.