Bill McKibben, a former staff writer for The New Yorker, writes for Harper’s, The Atlantic Monthly, The New York Review of Books, and many other publications, plus over a dozen books by 2008. He is a scholar in residence at Middlebury College. This was a gift book. (For his books I’ve read, click on his name.)

In his Introduction Bill McKibben says, “These pieces come from the first quarter century of my writing life, all written in the passion of a particular moment, the grip of a new experience or idea. They lack the coherence that a more systematic thinker would have produced – they are the products of a reporter’s imagination, restless and fast moving. But seen in reverse I can force a certain unity on them, which is a pleasurable and conceited thing to do with one’s life.” So he used a context rather than a chronological order in composing this reader of 44 articles that had been published in a wide variety of magazines.

Before discussing this further from my viewpoint, I give this quote from the back cover: “Twenty years ago, Bill McKibben wrote the first account for a general audience of global warming. The End of Nature became an environmental classic, widely compared to Rachel Carson’s Silent Spring. He has written a score of other books on nature and culture, and most recently Deep Economy, which the Los Angeles Times called masterfully crafted, deeply thoughtful and mind-expanding,” helped awaken and fuel a movement to restore local economies. Over these two decades he has also written dozens of essays for many of America’s most prominent publications. Collected for the first time in a single volume, these meditations on everything from the meaning of a black fly’s bite to the feeling of being arrested in a demonstration are both prophetic and funny, realistic and timeless.”

The order of this book’s 44 chapters tends to reflect Bill McKibben’s growth as a nature lover, an environmentalist, and a culture critic. The first book of his I read was Deep Economy (book 208) at the recommendation of a friend who also rated it highly as did I (5 stars). McKibben’s leaving New York City for Vermont was to allow him to enjoy nature in the wild. So Part I – At Home in Nature – is 5 chapters, of which Ch 4 – Enoughness – fit in well with a book discussion group at my church, where the idea of “enoughness,” that is, shedding your excess goods (and/or money) by dropping out of the endless consumer lifestyle in which most of America is stuck. We try to do it in a city; McKibben and wife (and many of his country neighbors) do it in very small towns near the wilderness of nature they love. Part II – The Changing Planet – is 6 chapters that reflect his growing awareness of what humanity has and is doing to the planet. Ch 6 – The End of Nature: The Greenhouse Experiment – is an apt title. As a newcomer, he learns from old-timers what the region used to be like. He projects the results of an always growth-centered mind-set into the future, for which The Greenhouse Experiment that we are now doing is a serious cause of concern for those of us who, like me, are inclined to be very cautious with any experiments we do to any part of our planet. Part III – Consumed – is 9 chapters, of which Ch 17 – The Great Leap – tells of the very rapid changes China is undergoing and the severe consequences for their environment; if you know little of this, this chapter will be a scary eye-opener. Part IV – Communities – is 6 chapters, of which Ch 23 – If You Build it, Will They Change? – tells of the town of Curitiba, Brazil, in which the leaders decided to redo the town in stages that would make things work cheaper, faster, and more efficiently. One change I’d never thought of was to redo the bus design to load and unload subway style, thus minimizing stop times and transit times. They built it and they changed for the better.

Part V – Heroes – is 5 chapters. I especially enjoyed Ch 28 – The Desert Anarchist (Edward Abbey) – and Ch 29 – Prophet in Kentucky (Wendell Berry). If you don’t know who these two guys are, these two chapters will give you a superb introduction. Part VI – The Turn to Activism – is 8 chapters, most about activist movements, although Ch 32 – Milken, Junk Bonds, and Raping Redwoods – is, of course, about criminal actions and stupidities that are the stuff that inspires activists. Ch 37 – The Muslim Gandhi – is about a leader who I had never heard about: Abdul Ghaffar Khan of Afghanistan, who led non-violent confrontations against the British oppression early in the last century. Part VII – Time, Moving, and Meaning – is 5 chapters that discuss homeless men, growing old gracefully, and McKibben’s midlife crisis – when he realized that half his life had passed, he decided to take up cross-country skiing to get back into shape, with advice from an expert, and then he began to try distance competitions. Being personal, this last part was not as meaningful to me as were any of the other parts of this overall very delightful and informative collection, which I highly recommend to all, especially to those who are concerned about the shape of the planet that we will leave to our children and grandchildren. As a sign of my high regard for him, I plan to read more books by Bill McKibben.