Praise for We're Doomed. Now What?
"[Scranton] writes clearly and convincingly about the emotional, existential challenges that attracted him to war, and how he was changed by the time he returned home."
--The New York Times "Readers brave enough to pick it [
We're Doomed. Now What?] up will discover the direct and unvarnished commentary it promises . . . Based on its title, some readers might expect
We're Doomed to function as an unremitting rant against the people and agencies actively destroying the environment. But Scranton is a more subtle and versatile writer than that. While he has many disturbing factoids about climate change at his fingertips--and deploys them with precision and accuracy--the essays benefit from the author's tendency toward self-deprecation."
--Sierra, the national magazine of the Sierra Club "Roy Scranton is one of the most gifted writers of his generation."
--Amitav Ghosh, author of The Great Derangement: Climate Change and the Unthinkable "Roy Scranton is our Jeremiah of the anthropocene and a brutally honest chronicler of American violence in all its forms. His message is as urgent as it is discomfiting. Hear him."
--Andrew J. Bacevich, author of America's War for the Greater East: A Military History "These are thoughtful, powerful essays from the extremes of geography and experience. Not easy reading, but electric and worthwhile."
--Mark Greif, author of Against Everything and The Age of the Crisis of Man "Taken together, these essays--dark, often beautiful, frequently scholarly, always gripping--seek to accurately describe things we might prefer not be described. The work is difficult, noble in intention, and brilliant in execution."
--The Gazette "Scranton's book isn't really about the science of global warming. It's a deeply felt meditation on what it all means for us philosophically and ethically."
--WPR's To the Best of Our Knowledge "Scranton skillfully integrates literature and philosophy into his own thoughts, creating multilayered writings that beg to be read slowly and carefully by a reader willing to pay attention for a steady length of time. Eye-opening and honest, these essays are like receiving a terminal diagnosis from a specialist while still leaving a margin of hope on the sides."
--Shelf Awareness
"A realistic, if depressing, look at the modern world and how readers can survive the new environment humans have created."
--Library Journal "Scranton's warnings must be heeded."
--Kirkus Reviews "Roy Scranton is a gifted, intrepid writer, and these essays are mesmerizing despite their dire themes (climate change, war, violence).
We're Doomed. Now What? is an elegiac book that grieves as it presses forward."
--Powell's Books, Staff Pick Praise for Learning to Die in the Anthropocene "Roy Scranton draws on his experiences in Iraq to confront the grim realities of climate change. The result is a fierce and provocative book."
--Elizabeth Kolbert, Pulitzer Prize-winning author of The Sixth Extinction: An Unnatural History "Roy Scranton lucidly articulates the depth of the climate crisis with an honesty that is all too rare, then calls for a reimagined humanism that will help us meet our stormy future with as much decency as we can muster . . . This is a wise and important challenge from an elegant writer and original thinker."
--Naomi Klein, author of This Changes Everything: Capitalism vs. the Climate Praise for War Porn "One of the best and most disturbing war novels in years."
--The Wall Street Journal "A view of the American military unlike anything else written about Iraq or Afghanistan . . . A guided meditation on Iraq certain to force long overdue introspection on how we think about the war, those who fought it and the Americans and Iraqis it affected."
--New Republic "Forceful and unsettling."
--Michiko Kakutani, The New York Times "Searingly honest . . . This examination of the tragedy of what happened in Iraq reaches out to touch of all us. A brilliant literary achievement."
--Jeff VanderMeer, author of the Southern Reach trilogy