A Friend of the Earth by T C Boyle

This is the story of Ty and his family, eco-activists all of them and their lives in 2025-26 with flashbacks to the 1980s and 90s. The vision here of 2025 is chilling, extreme weather and mass extinctions have taken their toll and the earth is a much denuded place.

The book shows up some of the contradictions and hypocrisies of some parts of the environmental movement as well as individuals. Ty really isn't a likeable character, although he's a zealous activist, he isn't really focussed and he doesn't think through the consequences of his actions with disturbing results.

It's a very powerful book that makes the reader sit up and think about what we're doing to the earth. Though there have been mass extinctions in the past (just think of the dinosaurs) this will be the first time it has happened with a so called sentient intelligent species around who could stop the chaos but most of the time seems intent on bring on destruction faster and sooner just for the sake of a few bucks.

The vision in this book isn't always consistent, but it is always thought provoking. Read this book, then think about how you can lessen the environmental impact of your life and maybe we can stop this scary vision of 2025 becoming reality.

I reviewed But n Ben A Go Go by Matthew Fitt, another book about similar themes here.