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A review by savaging
Arts of Living on a Damaged Planet: Ghosts and Monsters of the Anthropocene by Elaine Gan, Anna Lowenhaupt Tsing, Heather Anne Swanson, Nils Bubandt
5.0
This book dropped me down into the deep space, the heart space, the realm of the tender, grieving, joyful.
It did this by telling me about ants, lichen, flying foxes, and other kin. The authors included in this book pay close attention to others. They learn from others, but don't force any of them into a trite 'object lesson.' It hurt to read this book. But it was that kind of pain I also feel when there is just too much beauty.
One essay ("No Small Matter" by Karen Barad) felt too thick with high-brow continental jargon. The rest were only as complex as they needed to be to honor their subject matter.
This is the sort of book that almost makes me want to reenter academia. What a beautiful thing to do with these primate brains of ours.
It did this by telling me about ants, lichen, flying foxes, and other kin. The authors included in this book pay close attention to others. They learn from others, but don't force any of them into a trite 'object lesson.' It hurt to read this book. But it was that kind of pain I also feel when there is just too much beauty.
One essay ("No Small Matter" by Karen Barad) felt too thick with high-brow continental jargon. The rest were only as complex as they needed to be to honor their subject matter.
This is the sort of book that almost makes me want to reenter academia. What a beautiful thing to do with these primate brains of ours.