Synopses & Reviews
Building from his acclaimed anthology Tales of Two Americas,
beloved writer and editor John Freeman draws together a group of our
greatest writers from around the world to help us see how the
environmental crisis is hitting some of the most vulnerable communities
where they live.
In the past five years, John Freeman, previously editor of
Granta, has launched a celebrated international literary magazine,
Freeman's, and compiled two acclaimed anthologies that deal with
income inequality as it is experienced. In the course of this work, one
major theme came up repeatedly: Climate change is making already dire
inequalities much worse, devastating further the already devastated. But
the problems of climate change are not restricted to those from the
less developed world.
Galvanized by his conversations with writers and activists around
the world, Freeman engaged with some of today's most eloquent
storytellers, many of whom hail from the places under the most acute
stress--from the capital of Burundi to Bangkok, Thailand. The response
has been extraordinary. Margaret Atwood conjures with a dystopian
future in a remarkable poem. Lauren Groff whisks us to Florida; Edwidge
Danticat to Haiti; Tahmima Anam to Bangladesh; Yasmine El Rashidi to
Egypt, while Eka Kurniawan brings us to Indonesia, Chinelo Okparanta to
Nigeria, and Anuradha Roy to the Himalayas in the wake of floods, dam
building, and drought. This is a literary all-points bulletin of
fiction, essays, poems, and reportage about the most important crisis of
our times.
Review
"A powerful and timely
collection on a topic that cannot be ignored....Assembling the
creative work of respected writers from both the developed and
developing world, Freeman offers a sobering meditation on the future
challenges that everyone will face." Kirkus Reviews
Review
"[E]nvironmental and
humanitarian crises in Egypt, Mexico, Hawaii, New Zealand, Bangladesh,
Nigeria, and beyond are brought forward in masterful works elegiac,
angry, and ironic in Freeman's clarion global chorus." Booklist, (Starred Review)
Review
"Tragically, climate change
is one thing that's not on pause right now, and this impressive
collection is a small but engaging way to remind yourself of that....Every piece is short but impactful."
Outside
About the Author
John Freeman is the editor of Freeman's, a literary annual of new writing, and executive editor of Literary Hub. His books include
How to Read a Novelist and
Dictionary of the Undoing, as well as
Tales of Two Americas, an anthology about income inequality in America, and
Tales of Two Cities, an anthology of new writing about inequality in New York City. He is also the author of two collections of poems,
Maps and
The Park. His work is translated into more than twenty languages, and has appeared in
The New Yorker,
The Paris Review, and
The New York Times. The former editor of
Granta, he teaches writing at New York University.