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The World Without Us Audiobook
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(3.00) - 15,500 listener ratings
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Publisher Description
Discover the impact of the human footprint in The World Without Us. Take us off the Earth and what traces of us would linger? And which would disappear? Alan Weisman writes about which objects from today would vanish without us; how our pipes, wires, and cables would be pulverized into an unusual (but mere) line of red rock; why some museums and churches might be the last human creations standing; how rats and roaches would struggle without us; and how plastic, cast-iron, and radio waves may be our most lasting gifts to the planet. But The World Without Us is also about how parts of our world currently fare without a human presence (Chernobyl; a Polish old-growth forest, the Korean DMZ) and it looks at the human legacy on Earth, both fleeting and indelible. It's narrative nonfiction at its finest, taking an irresistible concept with gravity and a highly-readable touch. Some examples of what would happen: · One year: Several more billions birds will live when airplane warning lights cease blinking. · Twenty years: The water-soaked steel columns that support the street above New York's East Side would corrode and buckle. As Lexington Avenue caves in, it becomes a river. · 100,000 years: CO2 will be back to pre-human levels (or it might take longer). · Forever: Our radio waves, fragmented as they may be, will still be going out.
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"Not a pleasant book to read. What would the world be like without us? How long would it take for our civilization to be absorbed by the world. For anyone who is concerned about the environment and what the human impact has wrought this is a must read. "
— Gobasso (5 out of 5 stars)
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“A morbidly fascinating nonfiction eco-thriller.”
— New York Times Book Review -
“Extraordinarily farsighted…Beautiful and passionate.”
— Boston Globe -
“This book is the very DNA of hope.”
— Globe and Mail (Toronto) -
“I don’t think I’ve read a better nonfiction book this year.”
— Time -
“An astonishing mass of reportage that envisions a world suddenly bereft of humans.”
— Atlanta Journal-Constitution -
“A refreshing, and oddly hopeful, look at the fate of the environment.”
— BusinessWeek -
“The book boasts an amazingly imaginative conceit that manages to tap into underlying fears and subtly inspire us to consider our interaction with the planet.”
— Washington Post -
“One of the most ambitious ‘thought experiments’ ever.”
— Cincinnati Enquirer -
“Alan Weisman has produced, if not a Bible, at least a Book of Revelation.”
— Newsweek -
“The World Without Us gradually reveals itself to be one of the most satisfying environmental books of recent memory, one devoid of self-righteousness, alarmism, or tiresome doomsaying.”
— Pittsburgh Post-Gazette -
“In his provocative new book, The World Without Us, Alan Weisman adds a dash of fiction to his science to address a despairing problem: the planet’s health.”
— US News & World Report -
“[A] superbly well-researched and skillfully crafted stop-you-in-your-tracks report.”
— Booklist (starred review) -
“Weisman’s enthralling tour of the world of tomorrow explores what little will remain of ancient times while anticipating, often poetically, what a planet without us would be like.”
— Publishers Weekly (starred review) -
“Offers us a sketch of where we stand as a species that is both illuminating and terrifying. His tone is conversational and his affection for both Earth and humanity transparent.
— Barry Lopez, National Book Award-winner -
This is one of the grandest thought experiments of our time, a tremendous feat of imaginative reporting!
— Bill McKibben, author of The End of Nature -
An exacting account of the processes by which things fall apart. The scope is breathtaking…the clarity and lyricism of the writing itself left me with repeated gasps of recognition about the human condition. I believe it will be a classic.
— Dennis Covington, author of NBA Finalist Salvation on Sand Mountain -
The imaginative power of The World is Flat is compulsive and nearly hypnotic--make sure you have time to be kidnapped into Alan Weisman's alternative world before you sit down with the book, because you won't soon return. This is a text that has a chance to change people, and so make a real difference for the planet.
— Charles Wohlforth, author of the Los Angeles Times Book Prize Winner The Whale and the Supercomputer -
It's narrative nonfiction at its finest, taking an irresistible concept with gravity and a highly-readable touch.
— Ebooks30.com
Awards
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A Time Magazine Top 10 Book of the Year
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A New York Times bestseller
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An AudioFile Best Audiobook of the Year
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Winner of the AudioFile Earphones Award
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An ALA Notable Book in Nonfiction
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An Entertainment Weekly Best Book of the Year
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A Barnes & Noble Top 10 Books Pick of the Year
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A 2007 Kansas City Star Top 100 Book for Nonfiction
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Finalist for the National Book Critics Circle Award
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Winner of Publishers Weekly Listen Up Awards: Best in Category, 2007
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Winner of iTunes Best Audiobooks, 2007
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Among longlisted titles for AudioFile Best Audiobooks, 2007
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Winner of ALA Notable Books - Winner, 2008
The World Without Us Listener Reviews
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" Has a permanent place on my bookshelf, a great read, a mixture of science fact, history, and science fiction. "
— Steve, 1/24/2014 -
" Really interesting conceit, but gets a little repetitive. Still, worth reading. "
— Abigail, 1/15/2014 -
" This is a wonderful thought provoking book. Made me want to give up plastics and I plan on buying as few as I can. The problem is that so many things are made with plastic these days. "
— Sandra, 12/19/2013 -
" I liked liking this book much better before it was turned into a TV show. "
— Alia, 12/13/2013 -
" Do not read (or listen to the cd set, as I did) if you are depressed!! OMG, nothing good is happening to the earth, and it's all our fault. This is a ten disc set, and truly is well-written, very scientific, appears to be factual, must've taken a ton of research, and I believe it all. However, there were just too many facts and not enough hope for the lay person. We've trashed our planet, which for sure is an important fact, and I wish there was more I could do about it, but seriously, there were not many practical suggestions (if any) for the reader to adopt. Since I listened to the book in my car, it's a good thing I didn't just drive off the side of the mountain in desperation after hearing all this bad news. I'm going to look for a few happy picture books in my bookcase and cheer myself up. "
— Sandra, 11/3/2013 -
" This book was too depressing to continue reading. There too many better books out there to read. "
— Rlmteacher, 10/26/2013 -
" Amazing perspective into the world without humans and some great theories of our evolutionary choices currently... "
— Traci, 10/4/2013 -
" I definitely should have paid more attention in biology class. I love that the book explores the world before humans and after humans. A fascinating read that will make you check the ingredient list on products more thoroughly. "
— Gina, 9/8/2013 -
" Reinvigorated my passion for environmental health. "
— Molly, 8/24/2013 -
" a bit slow in parts, but covers a lot of interesting ground "
— Gekko, 8/9/2013 -
" ok, so i maybe didn't read every page of every chapter, which is unlike me. i liked what i read, but it was a little bit overwhelming. maybe i just have a bad imagination. fun exercise all the same. "
— Annwang, 7/14/2013 -
" It seemed like it was a long essay made into a book. Great concept just wish it was written by someone else. "
— Jordyn, 4/14/2013 -
" The last couple chapters weren't my favorite, but overall I found this book fascinating. "
— Nora, 2/22/2013 -
" The idea is intriguing, but I mostly read this thinking about all the assumptions and possibilities, all the "well, this could happen ..." underlying, well, every sentence. Clever for about a chapter or two, but I had to resist the urge to skim. Meh. "
— Michael, 9/13/2012 -
" Fantastic thought experiment. Every chapter was interesting. "
— Karen, 4/23/2012 -
" Very nice thought experiment book but not as in-depth as I would have liked. Also, has a strong hippy leaning and while factual, takes away from the principle idea. "
— Mark, 11/11/2011 -
" Eye-opening. I was fascinated by the descriptions of current "worlds without us" such as Chernobyl and the DMZ between North and South Korea -- life really does find a way, and we don't leave nearly the void we think we do when we're gone! "
— Kim, 10/12/2011 -
" Dry oh so very dry. "
— Jennifer, 7/3/2011 -
" This book definitely gave a more realistic look instead of the whole post apocalypse the modern world has given us. "
— Jamila, 5/22/2011 -
" Reinvigorated my passion for environmental health. "
— Molly, 5/17/2011 -
" if the earth is destroyed we have no backup for the live earth<br/> "
— Hayder, 5/8/2011 -
" A very real, and sometimes unsettling view of the world after humans are gone. It really makes you think about what you use, throw away, or produce on a day to day basis. "
— Kimberly, 4/23/2011 -
" Amazing perspective into the world without humans and some great theories of our evolutionary choices currently... "
— Traci, 4/18/2011 -
" A very interesting account of what happens, variables considered, if the human race disapeared. "
— Caiti, 4/13/2011 -
" A compelling vision of the future (and analysis of the present) that will sneakily turn you into an environmentalist. Each chapter is well written. Good stuff. "
— Steve, 4/12/2011
About Alan Weisman
Alan Weisman is the bestselling author of The World Without Us, and an award-winning journalist whose reports have appeared in Harper’s, the New York Times Magazine, the Atlantic Monthly, Discover, and on NPR, among others. A former contributing editor to the Los Angeles Times Magazine, he is a senior radio producer for Homelands Productions and teaches international journalism at the University of Arizona. His essay “Earth Without People,” on which The World Without Us expands, was selected for Best American Science Writing 2006, and he is interviewed frequently about how humans exist on the planet.
About Adam Grupper
Adam Grupper, award-winning narrator, has garnered honors from AudioFile magazine, Publishers Weekly, iTunes, the Society of Voice Arts and Sciences, and the Audio Publishers Association. He has been in eleven Broadway productions, including the acclaimed revival of Fiddler on the Roof. His film and television credits include The Rebound, Homeland, Master of None, Music and Lyrics, Two Weeks Notice, Elementary, and Allegiance.