Hope, Human and Wild: True Stories of Living Lightly on the Earth

by Bill McKibben

Bill McKibben’s first book, the bestselling The End of Nature , offered a devastating portrait of the harm human civilization has done to the planet. Hope, Human and Wild sets out on a dramatically different journey to provide examples and hope for a sustainable future, one in which our society’s wealth is measured less by its material productivity and more by its spiritual richness; less by its consumption of resources and more by the extent to which we live in harmony with the natural world. From the Adirondack Mountains to Kerala, India, to Curitiba, Brazil, McKibben offers clear-eyed and profoundly compelling portraits of places where resourceful people have confronted modern problems with inventive solutions, and thrived in the process. With an afterword by the author updating developments over the decade since the book was first published, this edition provides a badly needed vision of optimism for the future of our planet.

Genres: Nonfiction, Environment, Sustainability, Nature, Ecology, Science, Urbanism

232 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1995

About the author

Bill McKibben is the author of Eaarth, The End of Nature, Deep Economy, Enough, Fight Global Warming Now, The Bill McKibben Reader, and numerous other books. He is the founder of the environmental organizations Step It Up and 350.org, and was among the first to warn of the dangers of global warming. In 2010 The Boston Globe called him "probably the nation's leading environmentalist," and Time magazine has called him "the world's best green journalist." He studied at Harvard, and started his writing career as a staff writer at The New Yorker. The End of Nature, his first book, was published in 1989 and was regarded as the first book on climate change for a general audience. He is a frequent contributor to magazines and newspapers including The New York Times, The Atlantic Monthly, Harper's, Orion Magazine, Mother Jones, The New York Review of Books, Granta, Rolling Stone, and Outside. He has been awarded Guggenheim Fellowship and won the Lannan Prize for nonfiction writing in 2000. He is a scholar in residence at Middlebury College and lives in Vermont with his wife, the writer Sue Halpern, and their daughter.

http://us.macmillan.com/author/billmc...

Reviews

[Ted · Rating 5 out of 5]

This was an uplifting book to read. It documents Bill McKibben's optimism about things environmental, at least when he wrote it in 1995. (McKibben is, of course, perhaps the foremost environmental writer in America today.)

The most interesting chapters were those about the city of Curitiba Brazil, and the southern Indian state of Kerala. McKibben writes about these places with a sense of wonder and, as the book title says, hope. As the subtitle of his book says, these are true stories of living lightly on the earth. Both Curitiba and Kerala have a decades deep history of progressive (left-leaning, even Communist) governments, which have fostered (in utterly different circumstances, and very different ways) places for people to live "light" on the earth. And despite this "light" living, their quality of life (health care, transportation, literacy, fertility, life expectancy) is unarguably high (unless one defines "quality of life" simply in terms of GNP and consumption levels!).

Of course the book is somewhat dated, over fifteen years old, and McKibben's 2007 Afterward, though still expressing optimism, has to me a note of regret to it, a sense of opportunity lost, or maybe opportunity slipping away. He asks, has the world taken any note of the successes of these places? And although there are some examples of such notice having taken place, most of the world has ignored them.

The world, right now, is choosing between two ideas. In one, the American-GATT-Wal-Mart model, the individual counts for everything. In the other - the Kerala-Curitiba-Adirondack version - the idea of community is a little more crucial ... (this) revolutionary idea of Jaime Lerner that a city can be made "gregarious", the revolutionary idea of the Kerala left that the key to progress is raising the poor majority, not the rich minority.

McKibben in more recent times fights on (350.org, the anti-Keystone protest), but his Eaarth reveals a man sliding into a new stance, one of starting to emphasize local sustainability as the fall-back position to a fight for the global environment which looks more and more desperate.

This is one of those books, like Lester Brown's Plan B 4.0, that one reads with a sense of painful loss, a feeling that in a couple decades people will read them and think My god, if only people had listened ....

[Billy Driscoll · Rating 3 out of 5]

Oh baby more writing on public transport systems and urban planning plz

3.5/5

[Pat/rick · Rating 5 out of 5]

McKibben lit me up with his exploration of issues close to my heart and frequently on my brain: sense of place, sustainability, humanist economics and sane environmental policies, intriguing urban redevelopment, alternatives paths towards a happier healthier world. Central messages: Use less stuff. Treat more kindly all your neighbors, human and otherwise. Foster inter-connectedness. Hope, but work to realize it.

[Brett · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is the third McKibben book I've read and the one I have connected with the least. I get the sense that after his first book, 1989's The End of Nature, was a success, he felt, as sometimes writers seem to feel, that he had to offer something hopeful in contrast to gloomy view of first book.

I would compare this book to Bregman's Utopia for Realists (which is the best version of this kind of book I have read) or Greider's Soul of Capitalism (a not-so-successful version). These books basically say: "Ok, there are a lot of hard to solve problems out there, but it's not all bad! Here's some silver linings or reasons for hope, even if they are slim!" Unfortunately, the reasons for hope are rarely anywhere close to the scale of the problem and these books just sort of feel like a waste of time to me.

McKibben here talks about his own region of the Adirondack mountains, as well two other examples of cities managing to adapt well and live relatively sustainably, Curibita, Brazil, and Kerala, India. McKibben is a talented enough writer to keep things engaging but it sure feels like this is a weak reed to hold the entire weight of this book.

It was published in the mid-1990s, so I guess it was an overall more hopeful time. Here in the summer of 2022, as heatwaves buckle the roads and warp the steel train tracks of Europe, it feels hopelessly pollyannaish.

[Sarah · Rating 4 out of 5]

I've admired Bill McKibben from the moment I started reading "End of Nature" on its 10-year anniversary in 1999. His books have pinpointed with startling accuracy the direction we (Americans, in particular, but the global population, too) are heading with regards to our relationship with the planet's air, water, land, flora, and fauna. The case studies in this book - the Adirondack region of America's northeast, a city in Brazil that I'm now obsessed with, and the Indian state of Kerala - are fascinating, and give a sense of how to do things WITHOUT involving politics, and also how to do things without the need to consume more and more, but being happy with less because the things we will have in those situations will be worth so much more. Highly recommend this book for a dose of hope!

[Justin · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book is foundational how I view our cultural assumptions and how I hope to live my life. It provides solid examples of alternatives to our consumptive, Capitalist worldview, to our view of progress, and to what we value. McKibben asks us to make a simultaneously small and massive shift to our thinking and our lives.

[Michele Payne · Rating 5 out of 5]

Loved it - one of those for activists who think their achievements are too small to count - cause for optimism!

[Lisa Jo Frech · Rating 5 out of 5]

We need more books like this. Americans are losing hope about preserving our natural world.

[Carol Roote · Rating 5 out of 5]

I read this 20 years ago.

[Scott Martin · Rating 4 out of 5]

Interesting cases studies of cities in Brazil and India that defy the odds and achieve much higher quality of life than nearly all other third world cities. The book challenges notions of what's possible in achieving more sustainable lifestyles in developed countries. The author also looks at changes occurring in the eastern US, particularly the Adirondacks of New York, New England and Appalachia, and considers how the lessons learned in Brazil and India might be applied here.

[Carol · Rating 4 out of 5]

Although this book was written in 1995, it seems very current and pertinent as the global warming discussion heats up. There are four sections to the book. The author begins the book by giving some positive environmental changes made in our country and then discusses the challenges we have yet to conquer.
The second section examines the city of Curitiba, Brazil where the author lives for a month. Curitiba's visionary mayor made some hard but worthy decisions. One program he implemented was garbage exchange for food. The residents of a low income neighborhood had a problem with garbage and the city trucks couldn't negotiate the narrow streets for municipal pick up. So the neighborhood residents would pick up the trash and bring to a collection site on designated days and in exchange for their trash bags, they recevie boxes of food. This addtitionally benefits the peasant farmer in the outlying areas of the city. The money they would have used to hire a private garbage collection service funded the program.
He then visits Kerala, India where although the poverty rate is high, the literacy rate is 100%. This I find impressive since recently learning that Inida's women have a 50% literacy rate. People are very happy in Kerala even though the majority do not sleep on beds. They don't have the modern conveniences of Western culture and their community is sustainable.
The final section of the book returns to the Northeast U.S. and the possible scenarios if our country is to become sustainable. For example: building furniture factories near the forests where logging is occuring, eating locally, using solar energy to power our homes, even if we may have to do with out lighting in the evening during winter months.
Thought provoking.

[Virginia · Rating 1 out of 5]

Read for a class. McKibben wrote this as a response to his earlier book, The End of Nature. From reading this, especially the last chapter, I feel as though McKibben is very disconnected from the reality of what will work in combating the environmental crisis. Assisted suicide before incurring too many medical costs and a return to patriarchal small towns modeled after 1700's New England isn't going to cut it. (For a real life example, in the years since - I'm adding this to goodreads in 2010 - look at how well "death panels coming to kill your grandma" went over in the US media.)
Not impressed with this one.

[Jonathan Hiskes · Rating 3 out of 5]

I'll be reviewing McKibben's new book for a journal, so for now I'll just say that Hope, Human and Wild offers three imaginative visions of an ecologically sane way of living, based on profiles of Curitaba, Brazil; Kerala, India; and pockets of northeastern United States. The book runs into challenges related to profiling places (as opposed to characters) and dramatizing success (as opposed to danger), yet McKibben's curiosity provides a guiding torchlight. I would have liked for more of his personal story of seeking to live in a way that makes sense, and perhaps his new memoir will provide that.

[Amy Lou Jenkins · Rating 5 out of 5]

More than ever, we need examples of hope to provide a restorative way forward. This is not a collection of stories about granola-crunching Birkenstock-wearing recyclers (not that there’s anything wrong with that). McKibben takes a wider view. He examines communities that have found a way to function and respect the people and the ecosystem to which they belong. These communities are not utopia, rather communities...Continued at http://www.examiner.com/x-4002-Green-...

[Kate · Rating 3 out of 5]

"In these lyrical, penetrating essays, environmentalist Bill McKibben offers an optimistic response to his best-selling The End of Nature. He journeys from the Adirondack Mountains to Brazil and India to profile the efforts of caring communities to preserve the wilderness and reverse environmental devastation. These inspiring accomplishments offer hope for our plant's future."
~~back cover

Interesting, especially the chapter about Curitiba (I'd actually like to go there, to see how it looks and feels). Overall, most of the chapters were too long, and too wordy.

[Richard · Rating 5 out of 5]

A great book for anyone who knows how bleak the environmental picture looks right now. Though the material is somewhat dated (Having been published in 1997) there is an update on the major events that still provides hope that people can live far happier with less and that communities can solve seemingly insurmountable problems with dedication, and a willingness to act on good simple ideas. Every city planner should take a look at the section on the city of Curitiba's transit system most any city could apply their lessons learned to make their cities a more people friendly place!

[Maisaa Salma · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book mostly talks about two cities that managed to be sustainable. One is the city of Curitiba, Brazil which managed to install a very good infrastructure of buses to solve the problem of traffic and the second one is Kerala, India, the people in Kerala live clean and modest life consuming very little. It reminded me of Sri-Lanka, when I visited that place I had the same impression. Poor but very humble and clean and lovely nature.

[Geoffrey · Rating 3 out of 5]

A more optimistic followup to END OF NATURE, where McKibben explores places that live sustainably, or close to it, and then prayerfully hopes for cultural/political change in the Northeast U.S. where he lives. Curitiba and Kerala are places I would visit, but probably not in McKibben's company - he is earnest, literal and without quirk or humor. Still an important book.

[Lesley · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was one of the best books I was required to read in college....it follows a few different case studies about communities who have adopted radical and innovative strategies to live more eco-friendly and responsibly. Really fascinating stuff.

[Aimee]

I'm sort of bored by this book. I tried to love it. I'm not going to finish it if anyone else wants to have it. The writing is fine--good. But I just can't get into it. (It actually is a hopeful book, as it promises to be, though you do have to dig a bit for it.)

[Jenn · Rating 4 out of 5]

at first, i thought it was too uplifting and too full of monolithic characters that raised communities into greatness...but i've been working on toning down the sarcasm. shocking, i know. read it. maybe there is some hope for humans...

[Serena · Rating 4 out of 5]

Shows how communities who don't have that much money can live sustainably, ie a city in Brazil.
Bill McKibben is a good writer, he came to talk at UC Davis not too long ago...

[Anastasia]

I'm sure it's a great book, but it didn't grab me.

[space · Rating 2 out of 5]

WAAYYYY too sanctimonious in places.

[Alison · Rating 4 out of 5]

Great analysis of some inspiring places and people who have found solutions to a few challenging environmental and social problems.

[Janelle · Rating 4 out of 5]

Not quite as cohesive as some of his other works... but the part about Curitiba (sp?) is fascinating!

[Kathie]

One of my favorite environmental authors. This book provides a positive outlook to what can be done to reverse negative human impacts and promote environmental sustainability.

[Jillian]

Excellent book. I read this for a summer program about Environmental Science; it's informative but told in an interesting way, like a story.

[Jason Axt · Rating 5 out of 5]

Great Look at our planet and communities around the world and alternative ways to look at economics and our place on earth. Really shows you don't have to own the world to enjoy it.

[Private Account · Rating 3 out of 5]

-Interesting stories about places around the world where they live with less
-Save the world kind of book with only visions of how to live with less stuff