anime_babble

First of all: what the hell is that cover and why does it look like something from a remix of Severance and The Blair Witch Project? What exactly is that one-eyed, four-fingered monstrosity composed of insane scribbles straight out of a 1960s psychology textbook labeled "Drawing by patient in insane asylum," and why is a bulls-eye vomiting fire over her head? Is it meant to be a visual image of how it feels to live in 2026? If so, good job I guess.

I read this (from Netgalley, so I only now saw the cover) because I was looking for a good, easy-read book on climate change/collapse from more of a psychological/philosophical than prepper, science, history, or politics angle, for the shop. (I also read Lessons from the Climate Anxiety Counseling Booth: How to Live with Care and Purpose in an Endangered World by Kate Schapira, which is a much better book but also not exactly what I was looking for - it's extremely self-help oriented, with specific self-help exercises in each chapter, and geared toward people who have only just started to worry that maybe climate change is serious.) So I am still looking. I know the obvious answer is Rebecca Solnit and I do carry her books but I'd also like something a bit less historical/political-focused. More "how we can live now," less "this is why we're here."

Wilson's thesis is that collapse is inevitable and the apocalypse is already happening, but if we acknowledge and accept that rather than clinging to the hope that a miracle will avert it, we will have mental energy freed up to live our lives in the actual world that we have. Knowing that we did not avert the apocalypse does not mean we should stop fighting, stop creating, or stop living - all those things are still important, or if anything even more important. And who knows? Maybe the world that emerges after the current one will be less cruel and destructive.

I basically agree with all that. So I was initially well-disposed toward the book. BUT.

Mum struggles with what I'm writing about here. One afternoon, when the three of us [her parents and Wilson] were sitting on the verandah having a SAO biscuit and a pear cut three ways, she said, "I don't understand, how can you write and talk about the possible end of the human race and be so... okay?"

I replied: "I think it's because I love and honor the beautiful flow and perfect balance of life more than I value humans. I live for this. It gives me energy."

WHO TALKS LIKE THAT.

This is one of the most self-congratulatory books I have ever read. She literally quotes her editor commenting in the margins about what a brilliant passage she wrote! Her response to climate grief is to do ayahuasca, move to Paris, wail and dance at a cliff for an hour on the daily, and call up Liam Neeson for advice and emotional support! (He is only one of MANY celebrities who are her personal friends, as she reminds us at every opportunity).

It's maddening to hear how sad she feels about climate change from a member of the 1% who will only ever have to feel sad rather than facing any actual consequences, or at worst have her fancy house wrecked and have to crash with Liam Neeson while she selects her next place to jet off to.

I did not realize when I got a copy of this from NetGalley that Wilson is mostly known for I Quit Sugar. She is basically the Tim Ferris of climate grief.