Synopses & Reviews
Synopsis
From the author of Losing Earth, a deeply reported and beautifully told exploration of how we live in a post-natural world
We live in a world in which scientists are actively trying to bring back prehistoric beasts, in which our most essential and complex ecosystems demand monumental engineering projects to survive, in which immortal jellyfish threaten to fill and overrun the oceans, in which iconic companies that have long been at the cultural and economic center of their communities are poisoning the very people who make up those communities. We are obsessed with words like organic and sustainable, but the fact is that the separation between natural and artificial is obsolete, too intertwined to mean anything. It's not science fiction; it's not the future. It's not dystopia; it's not utopia. It's the world we live in. It's time we reckoned with it.
For years now, Nathaniel Rich has been reporting ecological stories for The New York Times Magazine, The Atlantic, Harper's Magazine, Rolling Stone, and other publications. From Losing Earth to the story that became the movie Dark Waters (which is one of the chapters in the book), his stories have come to define the way we think of contemporary ecological narrative. But as Rich takes on a series of adventures and explorations and schemes with the scientists and activists, engineers and naturalists at the forefront of these issues, what comes into focus is a world that has left the traditional notion of ecology behind.
There is obvious tragedy in what we've lost, but there is undeniable wonder in what we can do, and Rich captures both with unmatched energy and eloquence. At this point, we have no choice but to accept it, embrace it, revel in it. This is The Artificial Forest.
Synopsis
From the author of Losing Earth, a deeply reported and beautifully told exploration of our post-natural world.
We live at a time in which scientists race to reanimate extinct beasts, our most essential ecosystems require monumental engineering projects to survive, chicken breasts grow in test tubes, and multinational corporations conspire to poison the blood of every living creature. No rock, leaf, or cubic foot of air on Earth has escaped humanity's clumsy signature. The old distinctions--between natural and artificial, dystopia and utopia, science fiction and science fact--have blurred, losing all meaning. We inhabit an uncanny landscape of our own creation.
From Odds Against Tomorrow to Losing Earth to the film Dark Waters (adapted from the first chapter of this book), Nathaniel Rich's stories have come to define the way we think of contemporary ecological narrative. In Second Nature, he asks what it means to live in an era of terrible responsibility. The question is no longer, How do we return to the world that we've lost? It is, What world do we want to create in its place?
Synopsis
From the author of Losing Earth, a beautifully told exploration of our post-natural world that points the way to a new mode of ecological writing.
We live at a time in which scientists race to reanimate extinct beasts, our most essential ecosystems require monumental engineering projects to survive, chicken breasts grow in test tubes, and multinational corporations conspire to poison the blood of every living creature. No rock, leaf, or cubic foot of air on Earth has escaped humanity's clumsy signature. The old distinctions--between natural and artificial, dystopia and utopia, science fiction and science fact--have blurred, losing all meaning. We inhabit an uncanny landscape of our own creation. In Second Nature, ordinary people make desperate efforts to preserve their humanity in a world that seems increasingly alien. Their stories--obsessive, intimate, and deeply reported--point the way to a new kind of environmental literature, in which dramatic narrative helps us to understand our place in a reality that resembles nothing human beings have known.
From Odds Against Tomorrow to Losing Earth to the film Dark Waters (adapted from the first chapter of this book), Nathaniel Rich's stories have come to define the way we think of contemporary ecological narrative. In Second Nature, he asks what it means to live in an era of terrible responsibility. The question is no longer, How do we return to the world that we've lost?It is, What world do we want to create in its place?