I'm With the Bears: Short Stories from a Damaged Planet

by Mark Martin (Editor), Bill McKibben (Introduction), Margaret Atwood (Contribution by), Paolo Bacigalupi (Contribution by), T. C. Boyle (Contribution by)

Overview

A collection of 10 “striking” short stories on the dangers of climate change—featuring works by Margaret Atwood, David Mitchell, Kim Stanley Robinson, and an introduction by Bill McKibben (The Boston Globe).
 
The size and severity of the global climate crisis is such that even the most committed environmentalists are liable to live in a state of denial. The award-winning writers collected here have made it their task to shake off this nagging disbelief, bringing the incomprehensible within our grasp and shaping an emotional response to the deterioration of our global habitat.
 
From T. C. Boyle’s account of early eco-activists, to Nathaniel Rich’s vision of a near future where oil sells for $800 a barrel—these ten provocative, occasionally chilling, sometimes satirical stories bring a human reality to disasters of inhuman proportions.
 
Royalties from I’m With the Bears will go to 350.org, an international grassroots movement working to reduce the amount of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781844677443
Publisher:	Verso Books
Publication date:	10/01/2011
Pages:	208
Product dimensions:	5.10(w) x 7.70(h) x 0.80(d)

About the Author

Bill McKibben is the author of Eaarth: Making a Life on a Tough New Planet, among other titles; he is the founder of 350.org, which in 2010 organized what CNN called “the most widespread day of political action in the planet’s history.”

Margaret Atwood is a Booker Prize–winning poet and author of many acclaimed novels, including The Blind Assassin and The Handmaid’s Tale.

Paolo Bacigalupi is the author of the sci-fi novel The Wind-Up Girl, which won the Hugo and Nebula awards.

T. C. Boyle has a long list of books to his credit, including the PEN/Faulkner Award–winning novel World’s End and The Road to Wellville. His latest novel is When the Killing’s Done.

Toby Litt has written nine novels and two short story collections; in 2003 he was chosen as one of Granta’s twenty Best British Novelists Under Forty.

The author of the New York Times Notable Book Ghost Lights and eight other works of fiction, Lydia Millet has won the PEN-USA Award and been a Pulitzer Prize finalist. She lives in Tucson, Arizona.

David Mitchell has been twice shortlisted for the Booker Prize; his novels include Cloud Atlas and most recently The Thousand Autumns of Jacob de Zoet.

Nathaniel Rich is the author of The Mayor’s Tongue and Odds Against Tomorrow.

Kim Stanley Robinson is the Hugo and Nebula prize–winning author of the Mars Trilogy and a trilogy of novels about climate change that go under the title Science in the Capital.

Helen Simpson is a prize-winning short story writer and novelist; in 1993, she was selected as one of Granta’s twenty Best British Novelists Under Forty.

Editorial Reviews

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." T.C. Boyle's horrific opener, "The Siskiyou," follows naive activists who immerse their feet in cement to close a road against destroyers of a forest. Lydia Millet's "Zoogoing" follows with a businessman obsessed with zoo creatures who secretly spends nights in world zoos. Friends reunite in Kim Stanley Robinson's "Sacred Space" to hike in the Sierras only to find signs of death. With "Hermie," 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," a woman's account of survival terrors in post-collapse England. "The Siphoners" 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.
(c) Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved.

Publishers Weekly

These are the jolts we dearly need; this is a serious business we’re involved in.”
—Bill McKibben, from the introduction

“10 authors at the top of their game, tackling the most pressing issue of our generation.”
—New Internationalist

“The stories dazzle the reader with their imaginative range and depth.”
—Independent

“The line-up of mostly British and North American talent is impressive—TC Boyle, Toby Litt, David Mitchell—and while they sometimes bash you around the head with a blunt instrument (Nathaniel Rich), the best are fierce and fearless, including Helen Simpson’s acerbic, apocalyptic Diary Of An Interesting Year.”
—Metro

“All the writing in this volume is excellent”
—Kate Saunders, The Times (Saturday Review)

“The high point for me was Paolo Bacigalupi’s The Tamarisk Hunter ... More than any other story in the collection, it makes climate change feel real.”
—Michael Marshall, New Scientist

“A wonderful idea.”
—John Harding, Daily Mail

“About what might happen if our worst nightmares come true.”
—William Leith, Evening Standard

“Compelling ... these stories inspire both fear and hope. The other reason this little volume is so terrific is that the stories are written with verve and style.”
—Elizabeth Taylor, Literary Editor, Chicago Tribune

“These ten stories avoid the sort of didactic, righteous preaching that elsewhere grates ... any reader with an interest in environmental issues will appreciate these different angles on the most pressing of our many current crises.”
—Ben Kupstas, The L Magazine

“It’s not what you think—some sort of enviro agitprop. These are literary artists responding to our situation head-on, as artists, and with striking results.”
—Wen Stephenson, The Boston Globe

From the Publisher

Ten authors at the top of their game, tackling the most pressing issue of our generation.

New Internationalist

All the writing in this volume is excellent.

The Times of London

It's not what you may think—some sort of enviro agitprop. These are literary artists responding to our situation head-on, as artists, and with striking results … It's acute psychological portraits, the way they cut through abstractions like 'climate crisis' to bring it home, make it real.

Boston Sunday Globe

About what might happen if our worst nightmares come true.

Evening Standard

Compelling ... these stories inspire both fear and hope. The other reason this little volume is so terrific is that the stories are written with verve and style.

Elizabeth Taylor - Chicago Tribune

It makes climate change feel real.

New Scientist

Each story packs an emotional punch that staid reports of melting ice caps can’t rival.

Mother Jones

The stories dazzle the reader with their imaginative range and depth.

Independent

These ten stories avoid the sort of didactic, righteous preaching that elsewhere grates … any reader with an interest in environmental issues will appreciate these different angles on the most pressing of our many current crises.

L Magazine

A wonderful idea.

Daily Mail

The line-up of mostly British and North American talent is impressive—TC Boyle, Toby Litt, David Mitchell—and while they sometimes bash you around the head with a blunt instrument (Nathaniel Rich), the best are fierce and fearless, including Helen Simpson’s acerbic, apocalyptic “Diary of an Interesting Year.”

Metro

Compelling ... these stories inspire both fear and hope. The other reason this little volume is so terrific is that the stories are written with verve and style.— Elizabeth Taylor

Chicago Tribune