The Anthropocene Reviewed
John Green
A deeply moving and mind-expanding collection of personal essays in the first ever work of non-fiction from #1 internationally bestselling author John GreenThe Anthropocene is the current geological age, in which human activity has profoundly shaped the planet and its biodiversity. In this remarkable symphony of essays adapted and expanded from his ground-breaking, critically acclaimed podcast, John Green reviews different facets of the human-centered planet - from the QWERTY keyboard and Halley's Comet to Penguins of Madagascar - on a five-star scale. Complex and rich with detail, the Anthropocene's reviews have been praised as 'observations that double as exercises in memoiristic empathy', with over 10 million lifetime downloads. more
293 pages, Hardcover
First published Dutton
4.37
Rating
119927
Ratings
20369
Reviews
John Green
211 books 305359 followers
Librarian Note: There is more than one author in the Goodreads database with this name.John Green's first novel, Looking for Alaska, won the 2006 Michael L. Printz Award presented by the American Library Association. His second novel, An Abundance of Katherines, was a 2007 Michael L. Printz Award Honor Book and a finalist for the Los Angeles Times Book Prize. His next novel, Paper Towns, is a New York Times bestseller and won the Edgar Allen Poe Award for Best YA Mystery. In January 2012, his most recent novel, The Fault in Our Stars, was met with wide critical acclaim, unprecedented in Green's career. The praise included rave reviews in Time Magazine and The New York Times, on NPR, and from award-winning author Markus Zusak. The book also topped the New York Times Children's Paperback Bestseller list for several weeks. Green has also coauthored a book with David Levithan called Will Grayson, Will Grayson, published in 2010. The film rights for all his books, with the exception of Will Grayson Will Grayson, have been optioned to major Hollywood Studios.
In 2007, John and his brother Hank were the hosts of a popular internet blog, "Brotherhood 2.0," where they discussed their lives, books and current events every day for a year except for weekends and holidays. They still keep a video blog, now called "The Vlog Brothers," which can be found on the Nerdfighters website, or a direct link here.
Community reviews
I don’t fail to see the irony in reviewing a book that’s essentially all about reviews, but I was actually pretty surprised by this book. One minute he’s talking about hot dog eating contests and Dr. pepper and the next he’s talking about human loneliness and connection and life during a pandemic. It was actually really cool to read a book that talked about COVID and the struggles of living during a pandemic, this is the first book I’ve read that really talks about it. I also really enjoyed hearing about his relationship with his brother Hank, and their discussions about the meaning of life. more
I give John Green's ability to make me view the world with hope and wonder 5 out of 5 starsWatch me discuss this book in my May wrap up: https://youtu. be/ouTm4bZ6TQw. more
I received a copy of this audiobook, read by John Green, through libro. fm and their ALC Program. I am not super familiar with the podcast of the same name, but still, I knew that I was predisposed to love this. And love this I did. This is perfectly what I enjoy in a collection of essays: each essay well crafted, but all tied together by a strong central theme. more
edit, jan ‘22: the place this book (and the podcast that i religiously listened to every month for the better part of my teenage years) has in my life is all-encompassing and impossible to articulate—to the point that i feel strangely indebted to it. i am almost certain that the genuine honesty and care with which john green reflects on the human experience will stay with me for the rest of my life. —HAND IT OVER IMMEDIATELY, JOHN. more
I would like more non-fiction from John Green please. I loved it. I give my experience reading this book 5 stars. more
Podcasts made nonfiction books, pimped with some specially written parts, rule The Greens know how to make science rockI knew the Green brothers from the youtube channel sci-show and crash course and expected nothing more than a great infotainment, edutainment overkill. And boy, how they delivered. I´m now even thinking about listening to the podcast to see how much it differs from the written version. A bit of everything, never too complicated, understandable, and perfectly portioned to fit into every readers´ memory. This is how science education should be done, no matter how dry or theoretical a theme might seem, Green understands how to make it funny, memorable, and easy to retell to always have a good science pun in the backhand if one is into social interaction. more
Anthropocene (noun): the current geological age, viewed as the period during which human activity has been the dominant influence on climate and the environment. Have you ever heard that term before now. I sure hadn’t before coming across John Green’s excellent 2021 essay collection, written during COVID lockdown, in which he reviews a wide range of aspects of our existence. Yes, John Green is the author of uber-popular Young Adult novels like The Fault in Our Stars and Looking for Alaska. But no, this is not really a book targeted to those readers. more
The world is a little brighter, is filled with a little more hope, for having this book exist within it…I give The Anthropocene Reviewed five out of five stars. more
Audiobook…read by John Green …. 10 hours and 3 minutes Nothing prepared me for how wonderful this book is. I’m thrilled that I own it. Paul listen to parts, and now he wants his own copy on ‘his’ phone. I haven’t had so much enjoyment learning about trivial things that are not really trivial but may be trivial things from an audiobook as much as this one. more
this was very powerful and exactly what i needed right now <3Blog | Instagram | Youtube | Ko-fi | Spotify | Twitch. more
I loved this so fucking much. Apparently non-fiction essays were what I needed to rekindle my love for John Green’s writing. Through reviews of different facets of the world he tells stories of his own life, inventions, human connections, loneliness, mental health, living through a pandemic, and so much more. Some of the aspects of his writing that I started to not appreciate so much in his YA novels definitely work better here in adult non-fiction. His worldview, use of quotes, and deep musings sometimes seemed a bit much for all of his teenage characters, but coming directly from him I really enjoyed it. more
4. 5/5. Such a ✨ soft ✨ book, I loved it. John Green gave this review 4 out of 5 stars. more
Note: Rounded up to five stars because John literally reviewed the font in the copyright section in his own book. “We all know how loving ends. But I want to fall in love with the world anyway, to let it crack me open. I want to feel what there is to feel while I am here. ” Short chapters/essays, but very entertaining, educational, and thought-provoking, The essay topics range broadly all the way from Air Conditioning to Sunsets, and even The Penguins of Madagascar. more
A collection of essays about the most random things: air conditioners (this one I actually enjoyed a lot), hot dog stands, canada geese, notes app, etc (that I really did not care about). It felt like a strange mix of factual information mixed with personal experiences. I fail to properly categorize this as an informative non-fiction or memoir. John Green uses so many quotes (the ones from Kurt Vonnegut I loved, but then I would rather just read something by Kurt Vonnegut) and thus it felt like I was just reading a collection of what others have said - resulting in a generic reading experience. I also might have outgrown John Green, not really caring too much about his opinions (sorry). more
oh john green. how could i not give this book five stars. for a non-ficiton book written during the pandemic, even at several times ABOUT the pandemic, i was expecting this to be a lot more dismal. there were so many things about this that i liked: the short chapters that were good to devour a few at a time, and come back to it at a later time. the book was just as informative as it was meditative. more
4 stars. I have to admit, when I found out John Green was releasing an adult nonfiction book, my very first thought was “I’m not smart enough to read it”. And then I found out the book was a collection of essays about the current geologic age and I was immediately relieved because I knew I could handle that. I listened to the audiobook which is narrated by Green and I thought it was fantastic. We got to hear all his thoughts and insights as he intended and it was a great experience. more
I mean…sure. This is a collection of personal essays by John Green in which he basically just ponders humanity and rambles endlessly about arbitrary topics like scratch-and-sniff stickers, air conditioning, and the Nathan’s Hot Dog Eating Contest. It’s pretentious with a sparse sprinkling of insight here and there. I found myself thinking, who cares multiple times throughout the book. I am flabbergasted by the high ratings for this. more
This turned out to be a great choice for my bedtime book. John Green writes YA books, most notably "The Fault In Our Stars", which was also a popular movie. I read that one during my years at B&N to stay abreast of the teen section, and liked it a lot, though YA is not my favorite genre. It was an emotional novel about two cancer patients who fall in love during their therapy, so of course it was sad in parts, but also well written and not sappy. This is his first foray into writing for adults, based on a podcast of the same name he co-hosts with his brother. more
My first one star of the year arrived earlier than I would have wished. John Green's schtick in trying very, very hard to come across as a thoughtful, humble, wonderstruck guy does not fly with yours truly. I know how nice guys think, and John Green is not a pukka nice guy. He is very good at pretending to be one, and has polished his trade, both in terms of writing and also socialising, to a perfection I can only dream of. Nevertheless, apart from 3 or 4 'essays' if such short on substance and formatting can be called that, the book didn't work for me. more
Wow. John Green must have spent A LOT of time watching Nat Geo and wiki-ing. So have I. I wish I had his conviction of a white rich man to spin all the trivia I know into a series of banal and sappy essays where I talk like I am an expert on every thing in this world via reciting easily googlable factoids. But alas, I have a full-time job. more
The inherent and possibly intentional ridiculousness of having to write a review for this whole book is hilarious— and stupid. It's a truly, freely, un-ironic, heart-felt examination of what we love, how we love it, and who we love it with. It's humanity reviewed, renewed, examined and explained. The final "chapters" are almost entirely memoir, reflecting John's own participation in The Anthropocene. It's contemporary and classic and entirely, totally timely. more
“We all know how loving ends. But I want to fall in love with the world anyway, to let it crack me open. I want to feel what there is to feel while I am here. ”I got sort of sick of John Green's YA novel voice--his clever boarding school witticisms, his quirky wise-cracking heroes that all sound alike, but knew I had to listen to John Green's actual voice reading this book, as I read many books on climate change and the Anthropocene, most of them grim and frightening. I find in this book that like me, Green is near despair about the state of the world, but chooses hope. more
⭐️❤️BEST NONFICTION BOOK OF THE YEAR⭐️❤️I've seen a lot of books lately with gorgeous, inviting, colorful covers. John Green's The Anthropocene Reviewed is just that, and when I saw it was a sort of autobiographical non-fiction by The Fault in the Stars author, I decided to give it a read. Wow. This guy knows A LOT. He gets sick with some sort of inner ear issue during COVID and decides to write down his rambling thoughts while on bed rest for six weeks. more
Certaines chroniques moins intéressantes que d’autres mais dans l’ensemble très très bien écrit. Ça vaut la peine et ça fait changement. more
یک ماه پیش وقتی که مثل اکثر آدمهای این روزها، به خاطر حجم اخبار بد، جهش ویروس کرونا، ناامیدی و. افسردگی و پنیک اتک و اضطرابم به بیشترین حد ممکن رسیده بود، برای پیدا کردن ذرهای امید و حال خوب رفتم سرال کتاب Notes on a Nervous Planet. کتابی که به خاطر سطحی بودنش و نثر نه چندان گیراش، هیچ دردی از حالم دوا نکرد. تا اینکه اتفاقی و به پیشنهاد یکی از دوستای جدید گودریدزیم کتاب The Anthropocene Reviewed رو، بدون اینکه من حتی بدونم در مورد چی هست شروع کردیم. فقط میدونستم مجموعهای از جستارهاست که جان گرین نوشته. more
I saw this book a few times and finally discovered it in Goodreads CHOICE AWARDS Best Nonfiction Winner. One of the best parts I like in this book is as follows:"Believe". My friend Amy Krouse Rosenthal once told me to look at the word and be awed by it. See how it contains both be and live. We were eating lunch together, and after telling me about how much she liked the word believe, the conversation drifted off toward family or work, and then out of nowhere, she said, "Believe. more
This book wasn’t terrible by any means, it just wasn’t for me. In my opinion, John Green did not offer me anything new or interesting to reflect on in his own reflections about our current moment and era. I found a lot of the essays to be either boring or very run-of-the-mill observations that literally any liberal-minded writer could have written. I did enjoy learning about some stories or facts I previously didn’t know about, though. And I did personally relate to and agree with a lot of his observations, reflections, and opinions on different topics of humanity. more
Niente da fare. John Green come romanziere proprio non mi piace. E anche come saggista non fa per niente per me. Peccato, l'idea di partenza era interessante. . more
The Anthropocene Reviewed asks only one thing of you: to stop and think a bit more deeply about the world we live in. John Green's first foray into non-fiction, it's very clearly a personal memoir in many ways. While framed as a deeper look at unknown and misremembered stories about humanity, it's more truly a deeper look into Green himself—which he willingly admits. As a consequence, it is a book that will appeal more to people who are already familiar with John Green, but I think it's well worth reading, even if you aren't familiar with him, anyway. The Anthropocene Reviewed is insightful without being obtuse and intelligent without being condescending. more
i laughed a lot. i cried a lot. and i learned a lot— about history, about the world, and about life through john green’s eyes. i so appreciated john’s vulnerability; it was like reading his innermost thoughts and it was so, so beautiful. the essay that tugged on my heart the most was ‘googling strangers’, which, as john said in the notes in the back of the book: “provided me with hope that i can’t possibly find language for. more