Beautiful, surreal, sappy, and real— 5 stars 

This may be one of my favorite bits of writing I've picked up in quite a long time (perhaps since I read Clint Smith's How the Word Is Passed). I am excited to share pieces of this with my students, too, but it's wonderful and worth reading just on its own without needing to be "instructive" or "good for you". I listened to this (and Clint Smith's book as well) on audiobook, read by the author, which I highly, highly recommend.

This was not what I expected. Full disclosure: I had no idea what Anthropocene even meant which is probably why I ignored this book for so long. Perhaps I feared it was "too smart" for me?

Thank you John Green for helping me slow down. For helping me open my eyes again. For reminding me that it is ok to like, dislike, enjoy, or be nervous about literally anything because my thoughts and feelings are valid too.

This essay collection includes everything. Who knew I could find comfort in an essay about Diet Dr. Pepper, or wisdom hearing his take on Halley's Comet? I didn't realize Green and I are the same age. I felt oddly closer to him when he gave a shout out to a bottle of Strawberry Hill. This book was straight up comfort. 

Particularly excellent as an audiobook!

"The Anthropocene Reviewed"

Method: audiobook by the author

One thing about me is: I love a theme. Themed events, themed locations, themed decor: give me something with a clearly-stated uniting category attached to it and I will be happy. And never more so than when it comes to collections of writings - be they essays, poems, short stories, letters, what have you - give me a clear overarching connection and I will be happy.

As themes go, "The Anthropocene" is broad enough to potentially be self-defeating. If it could be anything about human life (which in a piece of media made for humans essentially means 'anything at all', since everything we communicate about will always come back to us), what's the point in having a theme at all? Maybe that's me being too simplistic, but honestly the broadness of this theme does brush against the reason why I love them so much - I like being able to categorise things, and (to a somewhat lesser extent) to compartmentalise them, and a theme like this doesn't really allow for that sort of thing.

But my own personal taste in theming aside, I freaking loved this book. From the opening review of the song "You'll Never Walk Alone" from the musical 'Carousel' - a song I also have a personal connection to, with my very first time performing in a stage show having been as one of the Snow children who appears onstage during this song, in an experience which helped spark the love of theatre that has had such a profound influence on my life - I was hooked. My favourite reviews are the ones on the 1950 drama film "Harvey" (which serves as a deeply personal and empathy-facilitating explorarion of Green's experience with depression) and on the folk song "Auld Lang Syne" (which serves as a beautiful tribute to the work of his departed friend and mentor Amy Krouse Rosenthal, and has given me a variation on the song to sing which I will remember for the rest of my life).  This book has so many interesting, at times hilarious and at times profound reviews in here that are well worth reading - it's just that I love these two most, in equal measure. 

One of my favourite things about art is how it begets more art - both from a creative perspective (artists, writers, musicians, etc. being inspired by those who came before them and by their contemporaries), and from an audience perspective (one of my favourite examples of this is finding music for the first time through great needledrops in film and television). And to me, this book is at its best when it highlights some of the beautiful and strange and intriguing things that humans have created. I personally lean more towards the artistic ones, but the exploration of some of the more pragmatic human creations, such as vaccines, is also excellent -  informative and evocative, in equal measure. 

And this book does what so many of the books I deeply love do - it makes me want to write more, and it makes me want to participate more in the world. It makes me want both, in equal measure. 

I give "The Anthropocene Reviewed" four and a half stars. 

I’ve read two of John Green’s novels and adored them both, but this might be my favorite book by him. It’s so vulnerable, and his ability to capture the messiness that is humanity on Earth is breathtaking. I don’t normally cry reading books, but this book made me cry twice. (Also: I listened to the audiobook, which was read by John himself, and I think gave so much life to it.) I give The Anthropocene Reviewed five stars.

A series of essays on humanity, our nature, our interests, and our impact on the world. I love John Green, and this book is a real change of pace from his novels. 

It was interesting to reflect on all the various things John talks about and reviews, both on the surface level and as an analysis of humanity. I loved the way this book was written, and reading it as an audiobook and getting to hear John actually speak about everything really enhanced the experience. 

I give the Anthropocene Reviewed 4.5 stars.