Chris Turner (1) (1973–)

What starts as a nice little exploration into the history and impact of The Simpsons, turns into the authors attempt to explain everything wrong and right with the time period under review. His knowledge of Simpsons seems to be quite extensive, and it all starts out fun as he discusses episodes in the context of what was going on.

And then two things happen.

The first is that, while I’m sure the author has seen every episode (and probably knows every episode quite well) he keeps coming back show more to the same ones. In fact, he goes back to the same scenes, writing as though each entry was the first time he talks about it. This gets old quick. And it means that individual episodes (in some cases, individual scenes) are used to support various contentions. These cannot be all things to all people

The second is that the author just tries to dang hard to make The Simpsons the Zeitgeist of the times, to the point where he seems to be saying the times are the Zeitgeist of The Simpsons. Apparently, everything that happened in the 90s (and other times when The Simpsons aired) can be viewed through a Simpsons’ lens. And it is as if The Simpsons drove the time, not the other way around.

Which is all too bad. Because, at the outset, I was really enjoying this book. And then it made its nasty turns. And it went on and on. And I got really tired of it all. show less

I enjoyed this book far more than I thought I would and I'm not even that much of a Simpsons fan (Futurama on the other - marvelous!). The book is well written and still relevant today, the only real change to the world since then is the rise of religious fundamentalist idiocy (of all varities), and is quite thought provoking.

Turner's approach is different from standard looks at climate change and global adaptation. He does not candy coat the potential consequences of inaction ("looming catastrophe or catastrophe unfolding—whatever debate remains over climate change will occur within these parameters"), but he chooses to focus on what we can do. Right now. Today. And he's thinking bigger than sorting plastics or buying a hybrid car.

(Read more at Fourth-Rate Reader.)

An enjoyable read about the kind of green initiatives we need to avoid catastrophic climate change - massive investments in wind, new kinds of dwellings. Would have liked to have seen more critique of the way we live rather than just looking at technological solutions. I enjoyed the first-person narrative and the author's own struggle with despair, and search for hope. The ending, a long soliloquy for The Big Lebowski, confused me.