The Anthropocene Reviewed
Essays on a Human-Centered Planet
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4.6 • 253 Ratings
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- $14.99
Publisher Description
“Masterful. The Anthropocene Reviewed is a beautiful, timely book about the human condition—and a timeless reminder to pay attention to your attention.” —Adam Grant, #1 bestselling author of Think Again and host of the podcast Re:Thinking
Instant #1 bestseller! A deeply moving collection of personal essays from John Green, the author of The Fault in Our Stars and Turtles All the Way Down.
“Gloriously personal and life-affirming. The perfect book for right now.” —People
“Essential to the human conversation.” —Library Journal, starred review
The Anthropocene is the current geologic age, in which humans have profoundly reshaped the planet and its biodiversity. In this remarkable symphony of essays, bestselling author John Green reviews different facets of the human-centered planet on a five-star scale—from the QWERTY keyboard and sunsets to Canada geese and Penguins of Madagascar. Funny, complex, and rich with detail, the reviews chart the contradictions of contemporary humanity.
John Green’s gift for storytelling shines throughout this masterful collection. The Anthropocene Reviewed is an open-hearted exploration of the paths we forge and an unironic celebration of falling in love with the world.
PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
YA novelist Green (Turtles All the Way Down) makes his adult debut with this perfectly calibrated collection that reviews and rates various aspects of the current epoch. Taking on the style of a Yelp review, Green assigns a five-star rating to each topic he covers. "Our Capacity for Wonder," for example, gets three and a half stars (due to humans' general lack of attentiveness), while Diet Dr. Pepper gets four—Green loves the drink, but finds consuming it feels like "committing a sin." His review of the video game Mario Kart gives way to a discussion of privilege and a consideration of the role videos games played in the male friendships of his youth: "We didn't need to talk about Mario Kart, but we needed Mario Kart to have an excuse to be together," while CNN gets two stars for its failure to report "background information that allows us to understand why the news is happening." Each short review is rich with meaning and filled with surprises—"Sunsets," for example, draws on several poems to ask "what should we do about the clichéd beauty" of a setting sun— and together, they amount to a resonant paean to hard-won hope. Green's legions of fans will be delighted.
Customer Reviews
See AllDisappointed
I meant to buy the audiobook to listen to while at work. I can’t listen to this version at work, but I look forward to reading it (hopefully) soon!
Perfect
This was exactly what I hoped it would be. It was so interesting and wide-ranging. I hadn’t read a John Green book since high school, so I was nervous I wouldn’t like his writing as an adult. I very much do. I’d recommend to anyone looking for an easy foray into nonfiction.
Beautiful
Mr Green is amazing at exploring our world. With each chapter, he pulls meaning out of anything to reveal deeper truths that are both funny and sad.