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kleinbl00  ·  2747 days ago  ·  link  ·    ·  parent  ·  post: Hubski intermittent book thread

Bitch you'd love it.

The best part about Earth Abides is it's an accidental book. George R Stewart was commissioned by The Atlantic to describe what would happen to the world if all the people went away - sort of a World Without Us circa 1948. In order to make it not a long boring essay, he interspersed his dry analyses with the subjective experience of "The Last American" exploring this new world. Halfway through writing it he determined that his interludes were more interesting and, since it didn't fit his contract, he regretfully declined the assignment.

He's a fascinating dude.

    His 1941 novel Storm, featuring as its protagonist a Pacific storm called "Maria," prompted the National Weather Service to use personal names to designate storms and inspired Alan Jay Lerner and Frederick Loewe to write the song "They Call the Wind Maria" for their 1951 musical Paint Your Wagon.