“The Anthropocene Reviewed” is the pick of the year for the University of Idaho’s Common Read.
John Green, author of “The Fault in Our Stars,” “Looking for Alaska,” “Turtles All the Way Down,” and other teenage classics, published “The Anthropocene Reviewed” in 2021, in which he “reviews different facets of the human-centered planet – from the QWERTY keyboard and Staphylococcus aureus to the Taco Bell breakfast menu – on a five-star scale,” according to his website.
This book is a collection of personal essays and was the Goodreads Choice winner for nonfiction in 2021. The word “Anthropocene” is defined as “relating to the current geological age, viewed as the period during which human activity has been the dominant influence on the environment,” as per the Oxford Dictionary.
“The Anthropocene Reviewed” has been called “funny, complex and rich with detail,” “essential to the human conversation” and “the perfect book for right now,” according to a press release.
“The Common Read committee, composed of students, faculty and community members, felt this selection was a perfect choice to accentuate the scholastic strengths of the institution, explore the current issues facing our planet and develop balance in our global view of the world,” Dean Panttaja, UI’s director of General Education, told the university.
Common Read is a program created to “engage the university and Moscow community… in a unified intellectual activity,” according to UI’s website. The program is intended to introduce students to academic expectations, respectful discourse and community building by selecting a book to read and discuss each year. Each year’s Common Read selection is available at the UI Vandal Store, as well as BookPeople of Moscow.
Common Read has been active for 17 years, and their yearly selection is assigned to first-year students as part of their first-year studies courses and in the first-year writing composition sequence.
Common Read is sponsored by the Office of the Provost, the College of Letters, Arts and Social Sciences and the General Education Program.
Rebekah Weaver can be reached at [email protected].