The Anthropocene Reviewed: Essays on a Human-Centered Planet

Written by John Green

Narrated by John Green

“Masterful. The Anthropocene Reviewed is a beautiful, timely book about the human condition—and a timeless reminder to pay attention to your attention.” —Adam Grant, #1 bestselling author of Think Again and host of the podcast Re:Thinking

The instant #1 bestseller from John Green, author of The Fault in Our Stars and Turtles All the Way Down, is now available with two brand-new essays!

“Gloriously personal and life-affirming. The perfect book for right now.” —People
“Essential to the human conversation.” —Library Journal, starred review

The Anthropocene is the current geologic age, in which humans have profoundly reshaped the planet and its biodiversity. In this remarkable symphony of essays, bestselling author John Green reviews different facets of the human-centered planet on a five-star scale—from the QWERTY keyboard and sunsets to Canada geese and Penguins of Madagascar. Funny, complex, and rich with detail, the  reviews chart the contradictions of contemporary humanity.

John Green’s gift for storytelling shines throughout this masterful collection. The Anthropocene Reviewed is an open-hearted exploration of the paths we forge and an unironic celebration of falling in love with the world.

Audio exclusive! Three bonus essays!

• Language: English
• Publisher: Penguin Audio
• Release date: May 18, 2021
• ISBN: 9780593408537

John Green

John Green es el autor best seller de novelas como Bajo la misma estrella, Buscando a Alaska y Mil veces hasta siempre. Sus libros han recibido numerosos reconocimientos, entre los cuales destacan la medalla Printz, el Premio de Honor Printz y el Premio Edgard. Green ha sido finalista en dos ocasiones del Book Prize del LA Times y fue seleccionado por la revista Time como una de las 100 personas más influyentes del mundo. Es también guionista y presentador del podcast The Anthropocene Reviewed, que ha recibido excelentes críticas. Junto con su hermano, Hank, John Green ha creado muchos proyectos online de vídeo, incluyendo Vlogbrothers y el canal educativo Crash Course. Vive con su familia en Indianápolis, Indiana.

Reviews for The Anthropocene Reviewed

[melissarochelle_1 · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

A mix of all the things I love (and some I tolerate) as a being of the Anthropocene (or Capitalocene, but that's from a different book I'm reading Disabled Ecologies). Reflections on art, literature, nature, history, depression and random bits of information delivered in John Green's self-deprecating, slightly sarcastic style. Pretty sure I listened to this podcast instead of reading this book when it was initially published. Everything felt a little familiar, comfortable, easy.

[lamour_1 · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

This is a collection of essays inspired by pod casts and films, many produced by the author's wife for PBS. Topics include Kentucky Blue Grass and the lawn mania of American home owners, history of Diet Dr Pepper, history of air conditioning, Piggly Wiggly grocery stores, Halley's Comet, development of the board game Monopoly and the scourge of Canada Geese. Reminiscent of the books written by Malcolm Gladwell, most of the essays here are interesting and many are fun to read. Recommended.

[dorritt_1 · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

Despite the book’s title, few of these essays actually discuss the impact of human activity on geology, climate, or environment. Instead, Green appears to be using the term “Anthropocene” as a synonym for “modern culture,” and “Anthropocene Reviewed” as a pretense for pulling together a series of essays that don’t otherwise appear to have much in common. Some of the essays do focus on what you might call “Anthropocene-adjacent” topics like history, nature, science/technology, and anthropology. But the vast majority of the essays are biographical - personal anecdotes, travels, mental/physical health challenges, favorites (favorite song, soccer team, soda, video game, etc.) - creating the overall impression of an episodic memoir rather than “essays on a human centered planet.”

Having said that, I suspect most people won’t mind the “bait and switch.” The essays are stuffed with engagingly nerdy trivia (the history of Edmund Halley, the evolution of the QWERTY keyboard, the antecedents of ‘Auld Lang Syne,’ the origin story of teddy bears), funny stories (his brief career as an Academic Dacathalete), and nostalgia (scratch ‘n’ sniff stickers!). And goodness knows Green’s an engaging writer (as sales of his novels would suggest): honest, empathetic, and ultimately hopeful.

Green’s “gimmick” is to end each essay with a kitschy “1-5 star” rating: the city of Indianapolis gets 4 stars; Nathan’s Famous Hot Dog Eating Contest, two stars; etc. Works well enough for essays that are about things, but begins to feel strained/labored when applied to essays that are mostly about ideas or emotions (“What’s the meaning of life? How does one find hope in the midst of despair?”) Admit Green’s more philosophical essays left me cold. There’s nothing overtly off-putting about Green’s “how lucky we all are to be alive!” affirmations, but neither did I find them to be particularly original, insightful, or convincing.

Apparently Green penned most of these essays during the height of the pandemic, and that’s the vibe I got: that Green’s basically taking us with him on a stream-of-consciousness journey through months of inactivity-spawned contemplations and reflections, augmented by internet research, more-or-less relevant diversions, and lots (and lots) of literary quotations. The result is a rather uneven collection, and definitely not what I expected based on the title/summary, but ultimately found more here to like than dislike.

[castlelass · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

This book is a compilation of John Green’s series of essays completed during the pandemic shutdown. It is a mix of memoir, history, science, and reflections about various aspects of today’s world. Some are very pointed and specific (e.g., Jerzy Dudek’s performance on May 25, 2005, Hiroyuki Doi’s Circle Drawings, or The Penguins of Madagascar), and some are very broad and general (e.g., Humanity’s Temporal Range, Sunsets, or Our Capacity for Wonder). He assigns star-ratings to each of these topics. For example, Viral Meningitis gets 1 star and Sycamore Trees get 5 stars.

“The Anthropocene” is probably too broad a subject area to attempt to cover in one book. I would have preferred a bit tighter focus, but the widely differing topics make it easy to read a chapter, set it aside, and come back to it later. Each essay is well constructed and features a number of memories, facts, opinions, and emotions. My takeaway is that it provides a sense for what a person may contemplate as he faces a period of worry and isolation.

[37143birnbaum · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

This is a book of essays on any and everything. Everybody I listen to (my vloggers) love this book. Truthfully, I found many of his essays not interesting to me. Basically, I found it a tedious read, and I am surely in the minority.

[foggidawn · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

John Green offers his thoughts on various aspects of the human experience, from sunsets and humanity's capacity for wonder, to scratch-n-sniff stickers and Diet Dr. Pepper. Readers familiar with Green's writing style will know what to expect as he expands on these topics with erudition and heart, and those unfamiliar with Green are in for a treat. I listened to the audiobook, read by the author, on a long drive with my husband, who had no previous experience with Green's work. We both particularly enjoyed the Academic Decathlon essay. I'm looking forward to delving into the podcast from which the book was drawn, for any extra bits that didn't make it into the book. I give The Anthropocene Reviewed four and a half stars.

[othemts · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

The "Anthropocene" is a term used to describe the geologic epoch we currently live in where human activity has significantly affected the course of the Earth's ecosystems. John Green, author of popular young adult novels such as Looking for Alaska, An Abundance of Katherines, and The Fault in Our Stars, observes that a trend of recent human activity is to rank things on a five star scale (as someone who reviews a lot of books, movies, and music this observation hit hard).

And so he reviews various aspects of our time in this collection essays that are whimsical, thoughtful, and historically-informed.  Essays focus on serious topics ranging from mass extinction to diseases to climate events, but also on popular culture relics such as Diet Dr. Pepper, Scratch & Sniff Stickers, Monopoly, and the Hot Dog Eating Contest. Since many details of Green's personal life leak into the essays - such as his mental health issues and the time he worked as a hospital chaplain - this book also works as a backdoor memoir.

Most of these essays originated in the podcast, also called The Anthropocene Reviewed, that I listened to avidly although I didn't remember many of the details.  Green revised and updated the essays during the peak period of the Covid pandemic and the experiences of that crisis offer another lens through which to view the Anthropocene.

[verixsilvercrow · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

I began this book back in January, when I was working more strongly on my 32-books-for-the-year challenge and had already solidly finished three. I intended to finish the book within a couple of weeks, though that never came to fruition as varying motivation took my pace away.

Further delay on finishing this read came in the form of being broken up with by my partner one day before our six-month anniversary. It is difficult to write about the ensuing grief, being in the middle of it, but I try just the same; if John Green could write this book in the middle of the Anthropocene, and so many reviews talking about the pandemic while he was in the midst of the worst of it, then I can write this review in the midst of my grief. (And it was my mistake that led to the breakup, anyhow -- I can afford myself no luxuries and no feeling that I am a victim in need of comfort.)

In Mr. Green's last review of the book (at least, before the postscripts, which are followed by two more written after the book's first publication), one of an August Sander photograph called Three Farmers on Their Way to a Dance, he discusses how the subjects of the photo were mere weeks away from the assassination of Archduke Franz Ferdinand and the plunging of their country of Germany into World War I. He explains that the picture is about both knowing and not knowing. "You know you're on your way to a dance, but don't know you're on your way to a war. The picture is a reminder that you never know what will happen to you, to your friends, to your nation. [...] And that reminds us there is also a horizon we cannot see past."

In starting this book, I knew that I was on my way to the end of another book, but I did not know that I was on my way to the void that I am now trying to crawl out of. I still do not know when or how I will make it out of this void, yet I know I will not come out of it the same person I was before. Mr. Green mentioned in his review of the photograph that one of the three farmers was killed in the war, and the other two were injured (one three times) but survived the war anyhow, though changed because of it. But I have faith that I will get through this, as I have gotten through so many other things in my life, and this book has been help towards that goal.

I give The Anthropocene Reviewed five stars.

[curioussquared · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

In essays on topics ranging from the song "You'll Never Walk Alone" to Staph infections to wintry mix, John Green shares his unique way of looking at the world and rates each strange aspect of humanity on a five star scale.

What a lovely book! I've loved John Green ever since I first read Looking for Alaska in high school, and this book only reinforced that love. I think John is a person who thinks WAY more philosophically than I do, and takes life a lot more seriously, so I was a teeny bit worried I would be bogged down by some of his musings in this book. Luckily, that was not the case at all -- the short chapters kept things from getting too dark, and I couldn't help sharing bits and pieces of what I was reading with my friends and family I was hanging out with this weekend. 5 stars.

[mktoronto · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

I read this the first time but I love John Green's voice so much I went for the audiobook option. I needed to lie down a lot and being soothed by these deep thoughts in such a lovely voice. A bonus on the audiobook -we get to hear the call of the Kauaʻi ʻōʻō. Lots to think on and learn. Highly recommend reading or listening.

[carolfoisset · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

I give John Greens "The Anthropocene Reviewed" 5 stars! (loved that part of the book)
Great essays to listen to as I was out walking the dog.

[adzebill · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

Some good essays, all a bit "podcasty" (best listened to a week apart, as Green's anecdotes repeat a bit).

[bookczuk · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

The mind of John Green, when not immersed in fiction, is a weird, interesting, and definitely quirky place. Essays. 2022 read.

[pishmoffle · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

Framed as a number of small essays, ostensibly reviewing all sorts of everyday things, it's more a mixture of the reflections of an overthinker during a pandemic, and a look back at important moments in his life. He shares a lot of very personal and vulnerable thoughts, and I admire and appreciate that.

On the whole, I give it 3 stars.

[lycomayflower · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

CA: references to child death and SIDS, the Covid-19 pandemic, depression, anxiety, suicidal ideation

A collection of essays in which Green reviews various aspects of the anthropocene (that's the time period in which humans have been the dominant influence on Earth). Sometimes the topic is lighthearted (or seems so), like the essay on Dr. Pepper, and sometimes you know from the get-go you're in for something a bit weighty, like the essay about our capacity for wonder. Whatever the topic, the essay will have Green's signature ability to bring poignancy, humor, and a lot of facts into the mix. I enjoyed this thoroughly, and I recommend the audiobook, especially if you are accustomed to hearing Green speak (through his podcasts or online videos). If you know Green's cadences, you're gonna hear him in your head anyway, so you might as well let him read the essays to you. I think there's probably more nuance that way, though I'm sure reading the book yourself is a just fine experience as well.

[shazjhb · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

Lovely book. So interesting. Nice that someone who is depressed and filled with anxiety can produce a very readable book.

[dairyqueen84 · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

As I learn more about John Green from interviews and now this book of essays helps me to like him as a human more than I have as a fiction writer. These often funny and always poignant reviews of the stuff of our world was illuminating about John Green, the husband, father, son, brother, and friend. I'm glad I read it.

[alanna1122 · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

It's been a long time since I have read a collection of essays (or short stories for that matter) that has felt strong all the way through like this did.

John Green is so relatable. His voice, his tone, his humor make his musings so interesting to read and they all felt relevant to me. He deals with some heavy things but the way he does it , keeps it from feeling overwhelming.

I really liked this, even though it was heavy I was always glad I was reading it.

[nmarun-1 · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

Reading this book felt like reading the author's personal diary - it's filled with his opinion regarding just about anything. Repetitions about climate change, COVID and others led to like only a handful of things about the book. Most essays have a pessimistic outlook to them - another reason why I found the book a bit boring.

[lisa2013_1 · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

I do love John Green. I have enjoyed his young adult novels and this book is wonderful. His thoughts are smart and profound and so relatable. He is kind and bright and authentic. His writing always draws me in and emotionally moves me.

For this book of nonfiction essays book I read a Kindle e-book edition and simultaneously listened to the Overdrive audio edition, both borrowed from my public library. The narration by the author was first-rate. I can’t see anyone else doing the narration. I would have had zero interest in the audio edition if it had been another narrator. One thing I appreciated about the audio edition is where there is an asterisk in the e-book, maybe pointing to notes in the back of the paper edition?, John Green expounds on the topics. The extra words are right there and every time I thought they deserved to be read and read in those exact places in the book. I also appreciated that for one essay a tape of bird sounds played. I love his narration!

I love these short essays.

Almost everything in these essays is quotable so I wasn’t going to any quotes but there are two I want to remember:

“For me, reading and rereading are an everlasting apprenticeship.”

“For humans, there is ultimately no way out of the obligations and limitations of nature. We are nature. And so, like history, the climate is both something that happens to us and something we make.”


Musings and this book is good for that sort of thing: Even though I love the audio and the e-book too, I’d love to own a paper copy of this book. Unfortunately, not am I not buying books but I’m culling and in a major way. My 15,000 books are now fewer than 2,000, I think that number must go lower. Honestly this is one I probably wouldn’t keep indefinitely. I’ve been ruthless about letting go of many favorite and sentimental books.

My place looks better and I feel some load off of me but I feel the loss too.

I had multiple major traumatic incidents of the loss of books when I was young. Ages 12 and 13, age 15, and a couple of times in young adulthood, and I was afraid that this letting go process would compound the trauma. It is hard but not as difficult as I’d been expecting. Having it be my decision (given my circumstances) and having some measure of control does help.

But there wasn’t enough rhyme nor reason to my cull since the collection left does not exactly feel like me anymore – some books I gave up I should have kept and I see books still on shelves (at least all the books now do fit on bookshelves and are no longer on the floor, on the extra desk, doubled or tripled up!) that could probably go and be easier to relinquish than some of the books that are now gone. This is the hardest part about this process.

I was able to give 2 family members’ prayer books that I’ve never and would never use to newly found long distance cousins, and that feels gratifying.

But I am missing a vegan cookbook and it’s driving me crazy and if it’s not found I might have to buy it again

And library books I wish I owned (like this one, as a paper book) I want to buy. There are many I’d like to buy. I have not bought many books for many years and I shouldn’t be buying any books at all, not even friends’ books.

The other thing driving me crazy is that my books have always been in excellent to good order and now they’re all over the place. The only exceptions are my large bookcase that has all my vegan and animal rights and some related books on it and my small bookcase that is being populated with books I’ll keep no matter what, if at all possible.

I think of people who lost all their books (and all their possessions! – I also gave up all my record albums, some games, and many other items including decorative and sentimental including photographs, my mother’s paintings, and other such thing, and collectables) due to fire and other natural disasters, the Holocaust, a downsizing move, etc. etc. etc. One of those could still happen to me. I’m grateful for the books that I still have. I’m incredibly grateful for having access for fairly good libraries and going forward having use of a good library will be one of my top priorities.

I’m taking photos of many of the books that I’m giving up in the hopes that I will eventually get them all on my Goodreads shelves and at least rated if not reviewed. Early in the process I got rid of many books without doing that, including an entire bookcase filled with dog books, and I do regret not making some sort of record of what I’ve given up. I had no good ways of doing that with my earlier losses of books.

All this said, I wish I was wealthy and that I owned a house and that I could keep a magnificent and very large library of owned books.)

I was thinking that if anything would give me useful perspective and keep debilitating grief & depression away it would something like reading this book but the fact is if anything it worked as a trigger and I felt more depressed although interestingly not more anxious, at least not in general.

Included in the audio but not the e-edition were the essays titled: Mortification, The Kaua’I o-o, The Smallpox Vaccine. I hope that all the essays are included in the paper edition but I got the most out of both a print and an audio edition.

In summary, this author and these essays are brilliant and relatable, and I can recommend them to just about every reader. I’m happy that this book won “best nonfiction” in the 2021 Goodreads Choice Awards. And yes after giving up all but maybe 1,500-2,000 of my 15,000 books and not having bought many books for many years, and trying hard to buy no more I would love to own a paper copy of this book. *sigh* Thank goodness for libraries!

Highly, highly recommended to all readers no matter what their typical reading taste.

[villemezbrown · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

I rate therefore I am.

John Green fuses Uncle John’s Bathroom Reader with a Roger Ebert movie guide to create a delightful indirect autobiography. I’ve only seen a handful of Green’s YouTube vlogs, but the short essays here seem to follow the same format, tackling a bit of historical trivia then turning it into a contemporary issue or personal experience. Indeed, some of these essays originally appeared as vlogs or entries on a podcast that shares the book's title.

The current pandemic is mentioned multiple times, as are heavy topics like depression and various serious illnesses, but the tone is generally light, positive and hopeful. My only reservations are the many mentions of soccer and what the author recognizes in the Postscript as an excessive number of quotations (Save me from the Bartlett's barrage!).

Overall, a great book to have on hand to fill ten-minute holes in your days. (Just remember to flush!)

[streamsong_1 · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

The anthropocene is defined as the current geological age, viewed as the period during which human activity has been the dominant influence on climate and the environment. John Green focuses on the foibles and challenges of the dominant species - humans.

This is a series of very clever essays on the oddities of the human race – ranging through such diverse topics as scratch and sniff stickers, why the velociraptors in Jurassic Park don’t look anything like their namesake, and of course the challenges of Corona virus.

I found these highly entertaining – a great distraction from everyday events and some of the heavier books that I have been reading.

I’ll definitely check out his podcast, which is the basis for many of these essays.

5 stars for sheer entertainment in an extremely stressful time.

[paul_s-289480 · Rating: 1 out of 5 stars]

When self-pity meets with narcissism.

Yeah, it's heartfelt but also pretentious and trite wisdom trying to both move you and amuse you but only really managed to creep me out with its level of exhibitionism.

[charon07 · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

Thoughtful, heartfelt observations of humanity and its effects on the planet and the other beings that live on it, and of one specific human’s interactions with the world. Valuable insights for becoming the kind of human being I want to be: kind, decent, thoughtful, engaged, and nevertheless hopeful in the face of humanity’s frequent cruelty, cynicism, and despair.

[darthdeverell · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

The essays in John Green’s The Anthropocene Reviewed comment on the nature of our times, particularly during a global pandemic that has disrupted life and given people cause to re-evaluate their world and societies. At times funny, always poignant, Green’s work looks for the personal meaning as well as historic context in topics as varied as Kentucky bluegrass, Bæjarins Beztu Pylsur’s Icelandic hotdogs, the internet, and more. His honest discussion of his own anxiety helps put into words what so many people are feeling right now while also encouraging them to look for meaning in the places and things that have intersected their own lives. The Anthropocene Reviewed is the right book in the right moment.

[bell7_1 · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

In this essay collection, YA novelist John Green explores human life in all its richness, mundaneness, absurdity, and joy.

These essays originally began as a podcast, but you don't have to have listened to the podcast to enjoy the Green's personal explorations of what he likes - and doesn't - about our modern American life. Their format of five-star reviews of daily human experience in all its ups and downs came at least in part from a trip author John Green took with his brother, Hank, in which they tried to find the most absurd Google reviews possible. Though many have been written over the last four years or so, a few were very clearly from 2020 and briefly mention or specifically address the pandemic. I found myself relating to his comments about missing sports and hating to mow, intrigued by the history of the Piggly Wiggly, and enjoying the profound thoughts mixed with humor and wry observation. I started out reading just an essay or two a day, but found myself not able to stop after just a few and finished the collection quickly. Whether you've read any of John Green's fiction or not, I highly recommend this collection.

[nielsengw_1 · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

Green, John. The Anthropocene Reviewed: Essays on a Human-Centered Planet. New York: Dutton, 2021. 274 pp.

On the surface, John Green’s Anthropocene Reviewed goes through 40 to 50 items or concepts from the human world, gives them a decent Yelp-style review, and rates them on a five-star scale. Almost everything is up for grabs, from the movie Harvey to Diet Dr. Pepper to the Lascaux cave paintings and so on. Seems simple, but the part that grabs you is that interlaced in every review a bit of biography and reflection. It seems self-evident that in order to review something, you have to interact with it, and it becomes a part of your life, so all reviews are in some ways autobiographical.

Green’s reviews go deeper, however. We get his pain from his days as a chaplain, his joy in finding family in fellow football fans, his serenity when talking to his children, his fear when admitting that he Googles people before going to their house.

This book is great but suffers from the bite-size/binging problem. Each little review is great for quick dips when you have a few minutes, but I found myself flying through them, about ten at a time. I give John Green’s Anthropocene Reviewed five stars.

[formerenglishteacher · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

John Green’s first nonfiction book is essentially a book of ratings. The introduction explains that we seem to rate everything from movies to restaurants, so he decided to rate humanity in this current geological age: the Anthropocene Age. Much of what he writes is humorous, some is self evaluation, and some is serious reflection about mankind in general. The writing is sensitive and the topics are many and varied. Many won’t care for the tone of some of the pieces, but most will take something away from this book.

[readaholic12_1 · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

I've listened to all the podcasts and loved them. I have been a John Green fan since 2007. I have all John Green's books and love them all. I love this one the most. Reading and listening to the podcasts are both interesting, thought provoking experiences. I give this book and this author five stars.

[bragan_8 · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

I'd already encountered most of the material in this book previously, if sometimes in slightly different form, on John Green's Anthropocene Reviewed podcast. But it was absolutely worth revisiting in book form, even if I did kind of miss Green's voice and the way he always sounds both deeply bemused and sort of dolefully amused by absolutely everything.

The conceit here is that Green reviews "facets of the human-centered planet" on a five-star scale, with full recognition of exactly how meaningless and absurd that it. The topics vary widely: plants and animals, works of art, diseases, inventions, natural phenomena... Everything from the Lascaux cave paintings to the World's Largest Ball of Paint. But each essay, in reality, is a surprisingly profound meditation on life, full of interesting tidbits of information and thoughtful reflections on both a personal and a global level. It's intimate and smart, fascinating and well-written, slyly funny and frequently moving.

I heartily recommend this either in book or in podcast form. Or, for that matter, both.

To borrow Green's rating format: I give The Anthropocene Reviewed five stars.