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Synopsis As compelling as the best science fiction, Alan Weisman's well-researched book asks readers to imagine a planet earth divested of homo sapiens. Weisman suggests that within a relatively short time buildings would fall, streets would become waterways, infrastructures would crumble, and the food chain would undergo massive reshuffling. (Good-bye, poodles! Welcome back, Molokai Creepers!) The purpose of this gloomy visualization is to demonstrate the deeply-grooved footprint that humans have left on this planet, and to suggest which human endeavors have created the most environmental impact. It is also a touching reminder of our mortality and our relatively brief tenure in the span of time.
| Size | | Length: | 304 pages | | Height: | 9.5 in | | Width: | 6.8 in | | Thickness: | 1.2 in | | Weight: | 20.0 oz |
Industry Reviews "By approaching the end of humanity from this unique angle, as a given, Weisman succeeds in throwing the spotlight on the earth itself--and invests us in her fate. His thought experiment is so intellectually fascinating, so oddly playful, that it escapes categorizing and cliché--in particular that earnest moralizing that can make environmental screeds so predictable. Written as if by a compassionate and curious observer on another planet, his book restores a sense of wonder not just to one little piece of the cosmos, but to the human race whose amazing deeds have transformed it, and whose equally monumental folly now threatens it." (07/23/2007)
"...Weissman has written a sort of pop science ghost story, in which the whole earth is a haunted house." (08/13/2007)
"In his morbidly fascinating nonfiction eco-thriller....With...a devilish sense of entertainment values, Weisman turns the destruction of our civilization and the subsequent rewilding of the planet into a Hollywood-worthy, slow-motion disaster spectacular and feel-good movie rolled into one." (09/02/2007)
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