A History of the Future, James Howard Kunstler
A History of the Future, James Howard Kunstler
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A History of the Future
A World Made by Hand Novel

Author: James Howard Kunstler

Narrator: Jim Meskimen

Unabridged: 11 hr 49 min

Format: Digital Audiobook Download

Published: 08/05/2014

Synopsis

A History of the Future is the third thrilling novel in Kunstler's World Made by Hand series, an exploration of family and morality as played out in the small town of Union Grove.Following the catastrophes of the twenty-first century—the pandemics, the environmental disaster, the end of oil, the ensuing chaos—people are doing whatever they can to get by and pursuing a simpler and sometimes happier existence. In little Union Grove in upstate New York, the townspeople are preparing for Christmas. Without the consumerist shopping frenzy that dogged the holidays of the previous age, the season has become a time to focus on family and loved ones. It is a stormy Christmas Eve when Robert Earle's son Daniel arrives back from his two years of sojourning throughout what is left of the United States. He collapses from exhaustion and illness, but as he recovers, he tells the story of the break-up of the nation into three uneasy independent regions and his journey into the dark heart of the new Foxfire Republic centered in Tennessee and led by the female evangelical despot Loving Morrow. In the background, Union Grove has been shocked by the Christmas Eve double murder by a young mother of her husband and infant son. Town magistrate Stephen Bullock is in a hanging mood.A History of the Future is attention-grabbing and provocative but also lyrical, tender, and comic—a vision of a future of America that is becoming more and more convincing, and perhaps even desirable, with each passing day.

About James Howard Kunstler

James Howard Kunstler was born in New York City in 1948. He is the author of several books of fiction and nonfiction, including the bestseller The Long Emergency. After college he worked as a reporter and feature writer for a number of newspapers and finally as a staff writer for Rolling Stone. In 1975 he began writing books and lecturing full time.

About Jim Meskimen

Jim Meskimen is a stage, film, and television actor who has appeared in many well-known movies and television shows. He acted in Apollo 13 and Frost/Nixon for director Ron Howard, both of which were nominated for Best Picture Oscars. His television appearances include The Fresh Prince of Bel Air, Friends, Lie to Me, Criminal Minds, and Parks and Recreation. He is also a painter, award-winning audiobook narrator, and audiobook director for Galaxy Audio.

Reviews

Goodreads review by Kit on December 28, 2017

While I have greatly enjoyed Kunstler's post apocalyptic series, I am quite disappointed that his vision is still so based in white male patriarchal privilege and oppression. There's nothing progressive in his view of women, children, persons of colour, etc. He barely even bothers to develop any char......more

Goodreads review by Carlos on April 25, 2020

Not the best book in the series, that will be the second one, but here You will find some answers about what is happening in other places of the United States Territory besides the little place where our main characters live. The magic is lost somehow and I won't be reading the last one, not as inten......more

Goodreads review by Shari on July 13, 2016

It is hard for for me to admit that I was disappointed by this book. I really wanted to like it. I really expected to like it. It was not a bad book, but it was not nearly what it could or should have been, considering how good the previous volumes were. I give it 2 stars, which according to GoodRea......more

Goodreads review by Kathryn on March 14, 2015

I really enjoyed World Made by Hand but hadn't realized Kunstler had turned it into a series until I came across this third in the series at the library. The premise of this series is that in the near future the world has undergone a series of catastrophes - a disastrous Middle East war, annihilation......more

Goodreads review by Bryan on August 24, 2014

This is another interesting addition to this series, which takes place in post-collapse America maybe 20-30 years in the future. The previous two in the series were probably better as stories in and of themselves, but I enjoyed how Kunstler used this one to show the changes to the broader world outs......more

Quotes

“Kunstler’s post-economic-collapse and postdigital A World Made by Hand series continues with increasing literary finesse in the third installment…Kunstler skewers everything from kitsch to greed, prejudice, bloodshed, and brainwashing in this wily, funny, rip-roaring, and profoundly provocative page-turner, leaving no doubt that the prescriptive yet devilishly satiric A World Made by Hand series will continue.” Booklist (starred review)

“The arrival of this latest addition to James Howard Kunstler’s post-apocalyptic World Made By Hand series reminds me that time is running out for me to get started reading these books…After all, the world could collapse any minute—as it does in these novels…Then again, such a scenario like that might leave me more time to read intriguing books like these…by candlelight, of course.” Quivering Pen

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