I'm With the Bears

November 14, 2011
Ten award-winning writers respond to a plea for fiction that addresses the realities of climate change and portray potential future environments. The title references environmentalist John Muir's remark "when it comes to a war between the races, I'm with the bears.â T.C. Boyle's horrific opener, "The Siskiyou,â follows naive activists who immerse their feet in cement to close a road against destroyers of a forest. Lydia Millet's "Zoogoingâ follows with a businessman obsessed with zoo creatures who secretly spends nights in world zoos. Friends reunite in Kim Stanley Robinson's "Sacred Spaceâ to hike in the Sierras only to find signs of death. With "Hermie,â Nathaniel Rich details a crab's return to confront a marine biologist who played with him years ago. Helen Simpson offers "Diary of an Interesting Year,â a woman's account of survival terrors in post-collapse England. "The Siphonersâ is David Mitchell's examination of elderly life in a world where only youth has value. More tales from Toby Litt, Paolo Bacigalupi, and Margaret Atwood round out this volume of gripping science fiction from the near future.