While lying in bed for weeks, recovering from an extreme case of dizziness called labyrinthitis, Green looked back on the novels he’d written and noticed that he’d been writing about himself in disguise: “I realized I didn’t want to write in code anymore” (2).

Early in his career, Green wrote book reviews for Booklist, none more than 175 words, and he learned that one such review does much more than a simple five-star rating scale. With the rise of the internet, though, assigning starred reviews is the norm, “not just to books and films but to public restrooms and wedding photographers” (5). Reviews and essays nowadays tend to include a writer’s viewpoint; in that light, Green presents a book of very personal essays that review the Anthropocene Age of humans and their impact on the planet.

Most of the essays began as topics in Green’s podcast, The Anthropocene Reviewed. They touch on the contradictions of human life and especially how people are both supremely powerful and often nearly powerless. Running through his essays is the theme that despite the pains and dilemmas of living, the world is still a place of wonder.