Sunday, September 12, 2010

mini book review: The End of the Long Summer


by Dianne Dumanoski, Crown Publishers 2009, 252 pp.

I love this book. It's a brilliant gem. Basically, it takes the thoughts and premises of most environmental thinkers into the next realm of understanding. Wholistically, Dumanoski looks at the systemic disruption to Earth's metalbolism, while also examining "how our current modes of thinking fuel this emergency." The question, she says, is no longer simply how we can stop climate change, but how we can as a civilization survive it.

This masterpiece includes cultural critiques both detailed and broad, including the pitfalls of globalization, the role of the human brain, the temptations of technofix, our vulnerability to pandemic, and how to shock-proof our human social system.

A new cultural map is needed, Dumanoski says, because "the routine business of our civilization is threatening its own survival."

She wants us to actually THINK differently. I for one doubt that we can, but every bit of my spare time is spent trying to help it happen. What about you?


Monday, September 6, 2010

New York Times Connects the Dots

Wow. Seeing the front page of the New York Times on August 15 brought a sigh of relief (a yelp! of relief) to us hardworking environmentalists. There it was: three big photos of climate change at work: Pakistan floods, Russian wildfires, and unusually wild storms in Chicago, headlined "In Weather Chaos, a Case for Global Warming."

At last, big time media is getting it!

The 8/15 issue came out the second day of my annual two week vacation in Wellfleet, Cape Cod. The juxtaposition of such beauty all around me, with this cultural acknowledgement of the planet's danger, was a jolt to my heart.

Thursday, September 2, 2010

Next reading from my eco-thriller Human Scale

Come to my next reading at Out of the Blue Art Gallery on Sept 10 at 8 p.m. (106 Prospect Street in Cambridge). Human Scale, which came out in May (Plain View Press), is making waves with folks who were wondering what it's going to be like on this planet in 2062.

See you there!