The Anthropocene Reviewed: Essays on a Human-Centered Planet by John GreenMy rating: 5 of 5 stars
"Making conclusions about a book's quality from a 175-review is hard work for artificial intelligences, whereas star ratings are ideal for them." (3). Nothing quite like an introduction that dissects the act of reviewing to make one feel self-conscious in reviewing, but I shall make an attempt.
First, a prescription: take your time in reading these essays. Keep the book on your nightstand and read one or two at a time, when you need to remember that to err is human, but also so is to love, hope, dream, etc... Quite seriously: my only criticism of the book is that Green employs a rhetorical device that, while effective, starts to lose its punch when you read essay after essay. And Green is a good enough writer to nod to that in his "Postscript" (271 - 274). That's all I'll say about that, because there's far more weight that gives the book "five stars" for me. The scare quotes there are in homage to the book's m.0.
Green is a superb writer, and that's basically a requirement when analyzing the Anthropocene through lenses as diverse as Dr. Pepper, teddy bears, staph infections, invisible rabbits (or movies about them), the Indy 500, wintry mix, CNN...and...(here "etcetera" doesn't suffice because "the rest" you can't possibly guess). Each essay drew in my interest, even when I came pre-loaded with disinterest. In most of them, Green manages to do in four to five pages what CNN cannot do in a 24-hr. news cycle (his criticism of lack-of-context in journalism in the essay "CNN" (pp. 127 - 132) is spot on). But of course he isn't trying to provide "news" per se, but you will certainly learn about facets of humanity and history (and about Green himself) in surprising and fresh ways. The essays "Harvey" (pp. 133 - 138) and Auld Lang Syne" (pp. 145 - 152) are particularly excellent if you are in the mood for feeling and sentiment. Green, who is often hilarious and somewhat self-effacing, drops sentences like this as well:
"I'll never again speak to many of the people who loved me into this moment, just as you will never speak to many of the people who loved you into your now." (148)
Did your eyes well up with tears, or did that knot form in your throat? If so, you've probably known loss. I had to put the book down to give some heartspace over to the people who I've lost who have loved me into my now.
If you like art, as Green does, open up "Hiroyuki Doi's Circle Drawings" (191 - 194), which, if it isn't obvious from the above, is about a lot more than the drawings themselves. When it comes to grief, Green finds meaning in art by an octogenarian Japanese chef-turned-artist, but also, the "World's Largest Ball of Paint" (245-249), which, if you weren't aware, is in Alexandria, Indiana.
Even with the heterogeneity of topics, we never lose sight that it is indeed the Anthropocene under review. "For humans," Green writes, "being in uncharted territory is often good news, because our charted territory is so riddled with disease, injustice, and violence." ("Viral Meningitis, 206). The paperback edition includes two additional essays: "The Orbital Sunrise" (279-286) and "The Gingko Tree" (287 - 295), both of which imply that Green probably has a ten-volume set of essays brewing inside of him.
I can't think of a person to whom I would not recommend this book, because I think everyone can benefit from thinking about hot dog eating contests and the Bonneville Salt Flats in ways they did not imagine. If you are looking for "feminist" lit (and there the quotes are because I think it really is just about caring about humans), Green's "Air Conditioning" (73-78) makes a really great point about the determination of "room temperature" in offices and how that came about. If you thought Charles Darrow invented the game Monopoly, you'll want to read his essay on the game (175-179). And C.S. Lewis gets to be "the widower" of American poet Joy Davidman, quoted in the essay on viral meningitis. But if you don't know what you are looking for at all? Pick up this book.
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