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The Anthropocene Reviewed

Essays on a Human-Centered Planet

Author John Green
Ebook
$12.99 US
Penguin Adult HC/TR | Dutton
On sale May 18, 2021 | 304 Pages | 978-0-525-55522-3
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  • English > Composition > Specialized Courses
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  • About
  • Excerpt
  • Author
“Masterful. The Anthropocene Reviewed is a beautiful, timely book about the human condition—and a timeless reminder to pay attention to your attention.” —Adam Grant, #1 bestselling author of Think Again and host of the podcast Re:Thinking

Instant #1 bestseller! A deeply moving collection of personal essays from John Green, the author of The Fault in Our Stars and Turtles All the Way Down.


“Gloriously personal and life-affirming. The perfect book for right now.” —People
“
Essential to the human conversation.” —Library Journal, starred review

The Anthropocene is the current geologic age, in which humans have profoundly reshaped the planet and its biodiversity. In this remarkable symphony of essays, bestselling author John Green reviews different facets of the human-centered planet on a five-star scale—from the QWERTY keyboard and sunsets to Canada geese and Penguins of Madagascar. Funny, complex, and rich with detail, the  reviews chart the contradictions of contemporary humanity.

John Green’s gift for storytelling shines throughout this masterful collection. The Anthropocene Reviewed is an open-hearted exploration of the paths we forge and an unironic celebration of falling in love with the world.
From the Introduction
 
When I reviewed books, “I” was never in the review. I imagined myself as a disinterested observer writing from outside. My early re­views of Diet Dr Pepper and Canada geese were similarly written in the nonfictional version of third-person omniscient narration. After Sarah read them, she pointed out that in the Anthropocene, there are no disinterested observers; there are only participants. She explained that  when people write reviews, they are really writing a kind of mem­oir—here’s what my experience was eating at this restaurant or getting my hair cut at this barbershop. I’d written 1,500 words about Diet Dr Pepper without once mentioning my abiding and deeply personal love of Diet Dr Pepper.

Around the same time, as I began to regain my sense of balance, I reread the work of my friend and mentor Amy Krouse Rosenthal, who’d died a few months earlier. She’d once written, “For anyone trying to discern what to do w/ their life: PAY ATTENTION TO WHAT YOU PAY ATTENTION TO. That’s pretty much all the info u need.” My attention had become so fractured, and my world had become so loud, that I wasn’t paying attention to what I was paying attention to. But when I put myself into the reviews as Sarah suggested, I felt like for the first time in years, I was at least trying to pay attention to what I pay attention to.

•••
 
This book started out as a podcast, where I tried to chart some of the contradictions of human life as I experience it—how we can be so com­passionate and so cruel, so persistent and so quick to despair. Above all, I wanted to understand the contradiction of human power: We are at once far too powerful and not nearly powerful enough. We are power­ful enough to radically reshape Earth’s climate and biodiversity, but not powerful enough to choose how we reshape them. We are so powerful that we have escaped our planet’s atmosphere. But we are not powerful enough to save those we love from suffering.

I also wanted to write about some of the places where my small life runs into the large forces of the Anthropocene. In early 2020, after two years of writing the podcast, an exceptionally large force appeared in the form of a novel coronavirus. I began then to write about the only thing I could write about. Amid the crisis—and writing to you from April of 2021, I am still amid it—I find much to fear and lament. But I also see humans working together to share and distribute what we collectively learn, and I see people working together to care for the sick and vulner­able. Even separated, we are bound up in each other. As Sarah told me, there are no observers; only participants.
Copyright © 2021 by John Green. All rights reserved. No part of this excerpt may be reproduced or reprinted without permission in writing from the publisher.
© Marina Waters
John Green is the award-winning, #1 bestselling author of books including Looking for Alaska, The Fault in Our Stars, and Turtles All the Way Down. His books have received many accolades, including a Printz Medal, a Printz Honor, and an Edgar Award. John has twice been a finalist for the LA Times Book Prize and was selected by TIME magazine as one of the 100 Most Influential People in the World. He is also the writer and host of the critically acclaimed podcast The Anthropocene Reviewed. With his brother, Hank, John has co-created many online video projects, including Vlogbrothers and the educational channel Crash Course. He lives with his family in Indianapolis, Indiana. You can visit John online at johngreenbooks.com.

_________________________________________


John Green nació en Indianápolis en 1977, y se graduó en Lengua y Literatura Inglesa y Teología de Kenyon College. Tras iniciar su carrera en el mundo editorial como crítico y editor,  ha sido galardonado con el premio de honor Printz y el premio Edgar por sus diversas novelas.  Con su novela Bajo la misma estrella ha demostrado su capacidad para emocionar a lectores de  todas las edades y se ha convertido en uno de los autores más vendidos del mundo. View titles by John Green

About

“Masterful. The Anthropocene Reviewed is a beautiful, timely book about the human condition—and a timeless reminder to pay attention to your attention.” —Adam Grant, #1 bestselling author of Think Again and host of the podcast Re:Thinking

Instant #1 bestseller! A deeply moving collection of personal essays from John Green, the author of The Fault in Our Stars and Turtles All the Way Down.


“Gloriously personal and life-affirming. The perfect book for right now.” —People
“
Essential to the human conversation.” —Library Journal, starred review

The Anthropocene is the current geologic age, in which humans have profoundly reshaped the planet and its biodiversity. In this remarkable symphony of essays, bestselling author John Green reviews different facets of the human-centered planet on a five-star scale—from the QWERTY keyboard and sunsets to Canada geese and Penguins of Madagascar. Funny, complex, and rich with detail, the  reviews chart the contradictions of contemporary humanity.

John Green’s gift for storytelling shines throughout this masterful collection. The Anthropocene Reviewed is an open-hearted exploration of the paths we forge and an unironic celebration of falling in love with the world.

Excerpt

From the Introduction
 
When I reviewed books, “I” was never in the review. I imagined myself as a disinterested observer writing from outside. My early re­views of Diet Dr Pepper and Canada geese were similarly written in the nonfictional version of third-person omniscient narration. After Sarah read them, she pointed out that in the Anthropocene, there are no disinterested observers; there are only participants. She explained that  when people write reviews, they are really writing a kind of mem­oir—here’s what my experience was eating at this restaurant or getting my hair cut at this barbershop. I’d written 1,500 words about Diet Dr Pepper without once mentioning my abiding and deeply personal love of Diet Dr Pepper.

Around the same time, as I began to regain my sense of balance, I reread the work of my friend and mentor Amy Krouse Rosenthal, who’d died a few months earlier. She’d once written, “For anyone trying to discern what to do w/ their life: PAY ATTENTION TO WHAT YOU PAY ATTENTION TO. That’s pretty much all the info u need.” My attention had become so fractured, and my world had become so loud, that I wasn’t paying attention to what I was paying attention to. But when I put myself into the reviews as Sarah suggested, I felt like for the first time in years, I was at least trying to pay attention to what I pay attention to.

•••
 
This book started out as a podcast, where I tried to chart some of the contradictions of human life as I experience it—how we can be so com­passionate and so cruel, so persistent and so quick to despair. Above all, I wanted to understand the contradiction of human power: We are at once far too powerful and not nearly powerful enough. We are power­ful enough to radically reshape Earth’s climate and biodiversity, but not powerful enough to choose how we reshape them. We are so powerful that we have escaped our planet’s atmosphere. But we are not powerful enough to save those we love from suffering.

I also wanted to write about some of the places where my small life runs into the large forces of the Anthropocene. In early 2020, after two years of writing the podcast, an exceptionally large force appeared in the form of a novel coronavirus. I began then to write about the only thing I could write about. Amid the crisis—and writing to you from April of 2021, I am still amid it—I find much to fear and lament. But I also see humans working together to share and distribute what we collectively learn, and I see people working together to care for the sick and vulner­able. Even separated, we are bound up in each other. As Sarah told me, there are no observers; only participants.
Copyright © 2021 by John Green. All rights reserved. No part of this excerpt may be reproduced or reprinted without permission in writing from the publisher.

Author

© Marina Waters
John Green is the award-winning, #1 bestselling author of books including Looking for Alaska, The Fault in Our Stars, and Turtles All the Way Down. His books have received many accolades, including a Printz Medal, a Printz Honor, and an Edgar Award. John has twice been a finalist for the LA Times Book Prize and was selected by TIME magazine as one of the 100 Most Influential People in the World. He is also the writer and host of the critically acclaimed podcast The Anthropocene Reviewed. With his brother, Hank, John has co-created many online video projects, including Vlogbrothers and the educational channel Crash Course. He lives with his family in Indianapolis, Indiana. You can visit John online at johngreenbooks.com.

_________________________________________


John Green nació en Indianápolis en 1977, y se graduó en Lengua y Literatura Inglesa y Teología de Kenyon College. Tras iniciar su carrera en el mundo editorial como crítico y editor,  ha sido galardonado con el premio de honor Printz y el premio Edgar por sus diversas novelas.  Con su novela Bajo la misma estrella ha demostrado su capacidad para emocionar a lectores de  todas las edades y se ha convertido en uno de los autores más vendidos del mundo. View titles by John Green

Additional formats

  • The Anthropocene Reviewed
    The Anthropocene Reviewed
    Essays on a Human-Centered Planet
    John Green
    978-0-525-55524-7
    $18.00 US
    Paperback
    Dutton
    Mar 21, 2023
  • The Anthropocene Reviewed
    The Anthropocene Reviewed
    Essays on a Human-Centered Planet
    John Green
    978-0-593-41242-8
    $30.00 US
    Large Print
    Random House Large Print
    Jun 08, 2021
  • The Anthropocene Reviewed
    The Anthropocene Reviewed
    Essays on a Human-Centered Planet
    John Green
    978-0-525-55653-4
    $28.00 US
    Hardcover
    Dutton
    May 18, 2021
  • The Anthropocene Reviewed
    The Anthropocene Reviewed
    Essays on a Human-Centered Planet
    John Green
    978-0-593-40853-7
    $20.00 US
    Audiobook Download
    Penguin Audio
    May 18, 2021
  • The Anthropocene Reviewed
    The Anthropocene Reviewed
    Essays on a Human-Centered Planet
    John Green
    978-0-525-55524-7
    $18.00 US
    Paperback
    Dutton
    Mar 21, 2023
  • The Anthropocene Reviewed
    The Anthropocene Reviewed
    Essays on a Human-Centered Planet
    John Green
    978-0-593-41242-8
    $30.00 US
    Large Print
    Random House Large Print
    Jun 08, 2021
  • The Anthropocene Reviewed
    The Anthropocene Reviewed
    Essays on a Human-Centered Planet
    John Green
    978-0-525-55653-4
    $28.00 US
    Hardcover
    Dutton
    May 18, 2021
  • The Anthropocene Reviewed
    The Anthropocene Reviewed
    Essays on a Human-Centered Planet
    John Green
    978-0-593-40853-7
    $20.00 US
    Audiobook Download
    Penguin Audio
    May 18, 2021

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  • John Green: The Complete Collection
    John Green: The Complete Collection
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    978-0-525-55520-9
    $45.99 US
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  • Turtles All the Way Down
    Turtles All the Way Down
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  • Penguin Minis: Looking for Alaska
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  • Penguin Minis: An Abundance of Katherines
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  • Looking for Alaska Deluxe Edition
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    Dutton Books for Young Readers
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  • What You Wish For
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    John Green, Joyce Carol Oates, Various, Naomi Shihab Nye, Book Wish Foundation
    978-1-101-53566-0
    $5.99 US
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    G.P. Putnam's Sons Books for Young Readers
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  • Will Grayson, Will Grayson
    Will Grayson, Will Grayson
    John Green, David Levithan
    978-0-14-241847-5
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    Speak
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  • Let It Snow
    Let It Snow
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    John Green, Lauren Myracle, Maureen Johnson
    978-0-14-241214-5
    $12.99 US
    Paperback
    Speak
    Oct 02, 2008
  • Looking for Alaska
    Looking for Alaska
    John Green
    978-0-14-240251-1
    $12.99 US
    Paperback
    Penguin Books
    Dec 28, 2006
  • John Green: The Complete Collection
    John Green: The Complete Collection
    John Green
    978-0-525-55520-9
    $45.99 US
    Ebook
    Dutton Books for Young Readers
    May 26, 2020
  • Turtles All the Way Down
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    978-0-525-55537-7
    $14.99 US
    Paperback
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  • Penguin Minis: Looking for Alaska
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    978-0-525-55571-1
    $12.00 US
    Paperback
    Dutton Books for Young Readers
    Oct 23, 2018
  • Penguin Minis: An Abundance of Katherines
    Penguin Minis: An Abundance of Katherines
    John Green
    978-0-525-55572-8
    $12.00 US
    Paperback
    Dutton Books for Young Readers
    Oct 23, 2018
  • Penguin Minis: Paper Towns
    Penguin Minis: Paper Towns
    John Green
    978-0-525-55573-5
    $12.00 US
    Paperback
    Dutton Books for Young Readers
    Oct 23, 2018
  • Penguin Minis: The Fault in Our Stars
    Penguin Minis: The Fault in Our Stars
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    978-0-525-55574-2
    $12.00 US
    Paperback
    Dutton Books for Young Readers
    Oct 23, 2018
  • Looking for Alaska Deluxe Edition
    Looking for Alaska Deluxe Edition
    John Green
    978-0-525-42802-2
    $19.99 US
    Hardcover
    Dutton Books for Young Readers
    Jan 13, 2015
  • What You Wish For
    What You Wish For
    A Book for Darfur
    John Green, Joyce Carol Oates, Various, Naomi Shihab Nye, Book Wish Foundation
    978-1-101-53566-0
    $5.99 US
    Ebook
    G.P. Putnam's Sons Books for Young Readers
    Sep 15, 2011
  • Will Grayson, Will Grayson
    Will Grayson, Will Grayson
    John Green, David Levithan
    978-0-14-241847-5
    $11.99 US
    Paperback
    Speak
    Apr 05, 2011
  • Let It Snow
    Let It Snow
    Three Holiday Romances
    John Green, Lauren Myracle, Maureen Johnson
    978-0-14-241214-5
    $12.99 US
    Paperback
    Speak
    Oct 02, 2008
  • Looking for Alaska
    Looking for Alaska
    John Green
    978-0-14-240251-1
    $12.99 US
    Paperback
    Penguin Books
    Dec 28, 2006
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