NetGalley Review: Stop Saving the Planet by Dr. Jenny Price

 Stop Saving the Planet by Dr. Jenny Price

Publisher: W. W. Norton and Company

Release Date:  April 20th 2021

Rating:   ☆ ☆ ☆ ☆ ☆

A book that made a lot of great, and easily verifiable, points, but given the prestige associated with the author, I honestly expected...more.  

Yes, all of Price’s positions are true and offer a very useful perspective on environmentalism.  Consumerism and the banner of “personal responsibility” isn't going to fix the environmental crisis.  Major corporations are the worst offenders and major environmental groups are not making much progress in curbing that.  The people that need to show up aren’t and this will be a necessary level of understanding moving forward.  As a layperson’s introduction to a “new” view on saving the environment, this book has the potential to get readers engaged with the idea that there is more to it than cloth diapers and sorting your recycling.

My issue: this isn't particularly well written and, even more importantly for non-fiction from an expert, not even remotely cited or verified. Yes, a quick google search will prove Price’s statements correct, and a quick peruse of peer-reviewed research also backs all this up.  However, you wouldn't know that from reading this book.  This makes the book feel like an extended letter to the editor and less like a useful resource for understanding the changing direction of environmentalism.  Add in that the writing gets repetitive, a few of the sections are just reiterations of the central premise with not much added, and the book leaves a lot to be desired. 

Non-fiction can, and should, serve as a user friendly introduction to complicated topics while also adding to the useful body of literature on the topic.  This book only kind of succeeds at the former and definitely misses the mark on the latter.

Purchase at: Barnes & Noble