The Age of Loneliness, Laura Marris
The Age of Loneliness, Laura Marris
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The Age of Loneliness
Essays

Author: Laura Marris

Narrator: Laura Marris

Unabridged: 6 hr 11 min

Format: Digital Audiobook Download

Publisher: Recorded Books

Published: 08/20/2024

Categories: Nonfiction, Nature


Synopsis

How do we add to archives of ecological memory? How can we notice and document what’s missing in the landscapes closest to us? In her debut essay collection, Laura Marris reframes environmental loss by setting aside the catastrophic framework of the Anthropocene in favor of that of the Eremocene, the age of loneliness, which is marked by the dramatic thinning of wildlife populations and by isolation between and among species. And yet these essays are filled with wonder and vitality, immersing readers in the strange landscapes of the Eremocene, and in the search for home among the human and more-than-human.

Vivid, keenly observed, and driven by a lively intelligence and lyrical voice, The Age of Loneliness is an examination of the dangers of loneliness, the surprising histories of ecological loss, and the ways that community science—which relies on the embodied evidence of “ground truth”—can help us recognize, and maybe even recover, what we’ve learned to live without.

“The Age of Loneliness is a stunning book that will become a close friend, and like all good friends, it will change the shape of our world. Laura Marris has managed that trickiest of feats: she brings the past into the present and reminds us that we’re not yet alone. With prose that calls to mind the best in the tradition of nature writing, but with a voice which is also clearly, distinctly its own, Marris is the writer for our time.”—Daegan Miller

Reviews

Goodreads review by Colby on November 03, 2024

i think if you like books that blend memoir with scientific journalism and essays, you will enjoy this book. overall a compelling piece that links human relationships with the idea that environmental collapse is due largely to the destruction of the human-nature relationship secondary to the usual s......more

Goodreads review by Paul on March 26, 2025

Reading Laura Marris's superb translation of Camus' "The Plague" recently, and immediately following that up with "States of Plague: Reading Albert Camus in a Pandemic," which she and Alice Kaplan co-wrote, left me hungering for more, so I was delighted to find her book of essays--"The Age of Loneli......more

Goodreads review by Lewis on June 30, 2024

I received an ARC of The Age of Loneliness: Essays by Laura Marris from a Goodreads giveaway. The expected publication date is August 6, 2024. The Age of Loneliness is a collection of poetic and melancholy essays about life during the sixth extinction. Laura Marris uses personal history, ecology, an......more

Goodreads review by Beverly on March 23, 2025

This is the longest 200 page book I have ever read. In general, I thought there were interesting and poignant thoughts surrounded by boring prose. It gave me topics I didn't know I wanted to learn more about, and a book recommendation from one of the quotes. Finishing this book was such a chore thou......more

Goodreads review by Alissa on December 04, 2024

Marris writes about ecological loss, the death of her father, the isolation of airline commuting, long-distance relationships, landscapes, gulls, wild turkeys, horseshoe crabs, blue herons, starlings, tardigrades, Bachman’s warbler, and longing for reconnection with what we have lost. In each piece,......more