After Us, What?

My generation was subjected to some pretty awful cinema, but none worse than the post-apocalyptic genre, which gave us such classic Hollywood-schlock as Omega Man, Soylent Green and Planet of the Apes -- all of which, weirdly, starred Charlton Heston. Gawd, what lousy movies those were! And yet they were formative -- the stuff of nightmares and lingering dread. As such, man, I have to say, it's a relief to know that Alan Weisman's new book, The World Without Us, skips all that bleak dystopian stuff and takes up the story after the fat lady has sung her last aria; i.e., after the human race has, for whatever reason, up and vanished.

The World Without Us is Sierra magazine's current Let's Talk pick. You can also hear the author interviewed on KQED, San Francisco's public radio station. By the way, if this book sounds too -- mmm, what's the word -- nihilistic for you, then allow me to suggest a very hopeful book by the same author: It's called Gaviotas: A Village to Reinvent the World. Trust me, you'll be inspired.