Summary: Hanya Yanagihara’s To Paradise is an exquisitely-crafted and emotionally-gripping novel that covers a huge swath of thematic, historical, and futuristic ground. The story is told in three Books, each of which is loosely connected through the recurrence of certain character names and relationship dynamics that inhabit a single home in Washington Square, New York City. Book […]
Summary: Rachel Yoder’s Nightbitch is a work of magical realism about a woman who develops the bizarre habit of transforming into a dog and leaving her house to hunt small animals at night. Frustrated with the challenges of mothering her young son and the lack of support from her amiable but largely-absent husband, the “mother” (or MM––we […]
Summary: Gernot Wagner’s Geoengineering: The Gamble is a primer on the history of solar geoengineering, the state of current research, and possibilities for future experimentation and deployment. In a succinct and balanced fashion, Wagner discusses the various technical ways solar geoengineering might be implemented, as well as the morass of ethical and geopolitical problems that deployment may […]
Note: In July 2022, I published an extended review of this book. You can check that out here. Summary: Neal Stephenson’s Termination Shock is a work of “cli-fi” (climate fiction) set in the near future, probably sometime in the 2040s. The book invites readers to imagine what might happen if someone unilaterally decided to initiate a solar geoengineering […]
Summary: Elizabeth Kolbert’s Under A White Sky is about the history and possible futures of geoengineering. Specifically, Kolbert examines how various geoengineering technologies are being used or may soon be used to combat the worst effects of climate change. Part One, “Down the River,” describes efforts to keep invasive Asian carp out of the Great Lakes, and […]
There are times when I feel utterly incapable of expressing my appreciation and admiration for a particular book. This is the case with Perhaps the Stars, Ada Palmer’s magnificent conclusion to her Terra Ignota Quartet. Please know, dear reader, that even if you read this entire review, and my reviews of the other three Terra Ignota books (Book 1, […]
The loss of a loved one is one of the most devastating events in human life, and this is especially true when the loss is unexpected. Megan Devine discovered this when she witnessed the tragic drowning of her partner in the summer of 2009. In the wake of this traumatic accident, Devine realized that her […]
Stephen Fry’s Troy is the third and final book I read in preparation for Ada Palmer’s upcoming finale to her magnificent Terra Ignota series. This last stop in my self-education about the Trojan War is by far the most comprehensive source I’ve consulted, but also the least enjoyable. Fry’s obvious wit and passion for Greek Mythology notwithstanding, Troy felt more like […]
Homer’s The Iliad plays a critical role in Ada Palmer‘s amazing Terra Ignota series, so while I wait for the last book to come out I thought it might be fun to familiarize myself with some of her source material. Knowing only the bare basics of Greek history and mythology, I found this a strange but engaging journey […]
Greetings, dear friends of the present and curious citizens of the future. When I got vaccinated back in the spring, I thought I was done with the COVID-19 pandemic, at least personally. Well, as it turns out, the pandemic wasn’t done with me! The vaccines, we were told, were our ticket out of the months […]