The Bill McKibben Reader

Starred review from December 24, 2007
Collected here are 44 trenchant essays written for various publications over the past 25 years by an astute observer of contemporary life and the environment. In some, McKibben reflects on personal experiences; in others, he discusses the sources of his environmental activism. Many of the pieces deal with global warming—the subject of McKibben's first book, The End of Nature
, and the folly of endless growth—the theme of his more recent Deep Economy.
All have something to say that is worth hearing, but it is the collection's pervasive sense of hope for the world that sets apart these provocative, beautifully written essays. Though McKibben worries about consumerism and the environment, he sees reason for optimism, too, rejoicing in the simple spirituality he finds in his hometown church, the popularity of old-fashioned state fairs, the return of forests to the eastern United States, the transformation of a town in Brazil into a haven for pedestrians, the success of sustainable farming in Cuba and the recent involvement of evangelicals in the environmental movement. “There are all sorts of sweet things in this world,” McKibben writes, “many of which are us, and many of which are not.” Thankfully, McKibben has borne witness to them with grace and style.

Starred review from February 1, 2008
Readers familiar with McKibben's work won't want to miss this eclectic collection of essays gleaned from books and periodicals published between 1982 and 2007. Most of the 44 essays come from a diverse array of magazines, including "The New Yorker, Mother Jones, Outside, Gourmet", and "Christian Century". One of the first to sound the alarm on global warming in his 1989 book, "The End of Nature", McKibben continues his crusade against a consumerist society more concerned with individual desires than community good. Essays are loosely divided into categories that include consumerism, activism, the changing planet, the meaning of community, and the sufficiency of nature. In a poignant essay about his grueling year of Nordic ski training, McKibben describes learning the meaning of endurance as he witnesses the graceful decline of his father to cancer, while his own body turns into a racing machine. Readers new to McKibben will be entertained, informed, and perhaps even inspired to make the positive changes that McKibben desires for the world. Highly recommended for both public and academic libraries.Maureen J. Delaney-Lehman, Lake Superior State Univ., Sault Ste. Marie, MI

Copyright 2008 Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

February 15, 2008
McKibbens sense of mission is tempered by humor and realism. The author of 11 seminal, provocative books, he has also written a phenomenal array of discerning and piquant essays that combine fresh observation with vigorous analysis, and tackle complicated and challenging subjects. In this substantial, engrossing collection, environmentalist McKibben reaches back to his New Yorker days and includes a 1982 piece about his experiences living on the streets to acquire firsthand knowledge of the citys burgeoning homeless population. Other essays served as crucibles for his books, including The Great Leap, a 2005 Harpers article that presaged his penetrating critique of consumer culture, Deep Economy (2007). And how wry McKibben can be. Consuming Nature is a wonderfully counterintuitive piece about black flies. Human Restoration is about the reintroduction of wolves.The traits thatdistinguish McKibben the mostare not only his reportorial precision, lucidity, energy, and interest in what people do and how things work but also his driving curiosity about how people feel, and what we really need to be happy and secure.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2008, American Library Association.)