Stunning. Marks the emergence of a new and genuinely exciting kind of realism.
—Brian Eno, musician & environmentalist
Urgent, sobering reading.
—Kirkus Reviews, starred review
The most realistic yet least depressing end-of-the-world-as-we-know-it guide out there.
—Foreword Reviews, starred review
A profound meditation on how to live in a world on the brink of collapse.
—Jenny Offill, author, Weather and Dept. of Speculation
Proves it’s never too late for a good laugh, a good cry, and a good call to action!
—Bill McKibben
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 leading climate thinkers — from collapse-psychologist Jamey Hecht to grassroots strategist adrienne maree brown, eco-philosopher Joanna 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. From storm-battered coastlines to pipeline blockades and “hopelessness workshops,” 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 in this insightful and irreverent guide for achieving a “better catastrophe.”
About Andrew Boyd
Andrew Boyd is an author, humorist, and climate activist. His new book, I Want a Better Catastrophe: Navigating the Climate Crisis with Grief, Hope and Gallows Humor came out from New Society Press in February 2023. He is currently CEO (Chief Existential Officer) of the Climate Clock, a global campaign he co-founded that melds art, science, technology, and grassroots organizing to get the world to #ActInTime. Boyd also co-created the grief-storytelling ritual the Climate Ribbon, co-founded the progressive netroots powerhouse Other98%, and led the 2000s-era satirical campaign “Billionaires for Bush.” His previous books include Beautiful Trouble (OR Books, 2012); Daily Afflictions (WW Norton, 2002), and Life’s Little Deconstruction Book (WW Norton, 1998). Unable to come up with his own lifelong ambition, he’s been cribbing from Milan Kundera: “to unite the utmost seriousness of question with the utmost lightness of form.” You can also find him at andrewboyd.com.
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