I Want a Better Catastrophe: Navigating the Climate Crisis with Grief, Hope, and Gallows Humor -- Andrew Boyd - Paperback
An existential manual for tragic optimists, can-do pessimists, and compassionate doomers
With global warming projected to rocket past the 1.5 C limit, lifelong activist Andrew Boyd is thrown into a crisis of hope, and off on a quest to learn how to live with the "impossible news" of our climate doom.
He searches out eight of today's leading climate thinkers -- from activist Tim DeChristopher to collapse-psychologist Jamey Hecht, grassroots strategist adrienne maree brown, eco-philosopher Joana Macy, and Indigenous botanist Robin Wall Kimmerer -- asking them: "Is it really the end of the world? and if so, now what?"
With gallows humor and a broken heart, Boyd steers readers through their climate angst as he walks his own. Boyd's journey takes him from storm-battered coastlines to pipeline blockades and "hopelessness workshops." Along the way, he maps out our existential options, and tackles some familiar dilemmas: "Should I bring kids into such a world?" "Can I lose hope when others can't afford to?" and "Why the fuck am I recycling?"
He finds answers that will surprise, inspire, and maybe even make you laugh. Drawing on wisdom traditions Eastern, Western, and Indigenous, Boyd crafts an insightful and irreverent guide for achieving a "better catastrophe."
This is vital reading for everyone navigating climate anxiety and grief as our world hurtles towards an unthinkable crisis.
Author: Andrew Boyd
Publisher: New Society Publishers
Published: 02/14/2023
Pages: 416
Binding Type: Paperback
Weight: 1.35lbs
Size: 8.80h x 6.00w x 1.20d
ISBN: 9780865719835
Review Citation(s):
Kirkus Reviews 12/15/2022
Foreword 12/27/2022