I Want a Better Catastrophe

An existential manual for tragic optimists, can-do pessimists, and compassionate doomers

With global heating projected to rocket past the 1.5°C limit, lifelong activist Andrew Boyd is thrown into a crisis of hope, and off on a quest to learn how to live with the impossible news of our climate doom.

He searches out eight of today's leading climate thinkers--from activist Tim DeChristopher to collapse-psychologist Jamey Hecht, grassroots strategist Adrienne Maree Brown, eco-philosopher Joana Macy, and Indigenous botanist Robin Wall Kimmerer--asking them: Is it really the end of the world, and if so, now what?

With gallows humor and a broken heart, Boyd steers readers through their climate angst as he walks his own. Boyd's journey takes him from storm-battered coastlines to pipeline blockades and hopelessness workshops. Along the way, he maps out our existential options and tackles some familiar dilemmas: Should I bring kids into such a world? Can I lose hope when others can't afford to? Why the fuck am I recycling?

He finds answers that will surprise, inspire, and maybe even make you laugh. Drawing on wisdom traditions Eastern, Western, and Indigenous, Boyd crafts an insightful and irreverent guide for achieving a better catastrophe. This is vital reading for everyone navigating climate anxiety and grief as our world hurtles towards an unthinkable crisis.