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Acknowledgments
This book began with a conversation Ev Williams and I had in 2017. Soon thereafter he introduced me to Abbey Banks. The two have been generous partners throughout this process and helped me to believe that significant change is possible.
Simone Friedman is, as my grandmother would have said, “a force of nature.” Her energy, wisdom, ambition, and optimism bring even the most idealistic visions within reach. The first step toward making the necessary changes in our lives is knowing what changes are needed. Because of Simone’s work, along with that of Manny Friedman and EJF Philanthropies, the all-important connection between climate change and animal agriculture is finally in the public consciousness.
I hired Tess Gunty as a research assistant, but she quickly became my first reader, and ultimately my collaborator. Every sentence of this book benefited from her thoughtfulness.
I can’t think of any subjects that are more complex and controversial than the planetary crisis and our food choices. Hunter Braithwaite’s vigilant fact-checking was indispensable.
I was in communication with numerous climate science experts while writing this book. I am thankful for all the time, information, and knowledge they shared. Brent Kim, Raychel Santo, and Jeff Anhang deserve special mention.
Farrar, Straus and Giroux has once again reminded me of how lucky I am to be a writer. I am particularly grateful to Scott Auerbach, Rodrigo Corral, Jonathan Galassi, M. P. Klier, Spenser Lee, Jonathan Lippincott, Alex Merto, June Park, Julia Ringo, and Jeff Seroy.
As much as anything else, this book is a
bout home. Nicole Aragi and Eric Chinski have been my literary home for almost twenty years. Thank you.
ALSO BY JONATHAN SAFRAN FOER
FICTION
Here I Am
Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close
Everything Is Illuminated
NONFICTION
Eating Animals
OTHER
Tree of Codes
Joe (with Hiroshi Sugimoto)
The Long Never (with Hiroshi Sugimoto)
Seven Attempted Escapes from Silence: A Libretto
AS EDITOR
A Convergence of Birds
New American Haggadah
A NOTE ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Jonathan Safran Foer is the author of the novels Everything Is Illuminated, Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close, and Here I Am, and of the nonfiction book Eating Animals. His work has received numerous awards and has been translated into thirty-six languages. He lives in Brooklyn. You can sign up for email updates here.
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Contents
Title Page
Copyright Notice
Dedication
I. Unbelievable
The Book of Endings
No Sacrifice
Not a Good Story
Know Better, No Better
Be Leaving, Believing, Be Living
Hysterical
Away Games
Writing the Word “Fist”
Sticks
A Wave
Feel Like Acting, Act Like Feeling
Where Do Waves Begin?
Open Your Eyes
Ours Alone
Show Your Hands
II. How to Prevent the Greatest Dying
Degrees of Change
The First Crisis
The First Farming
Our Planet Is an Animal Farm
Our Population Growth Is Radical
Our Animal Farming Is Radical
Our Eating Is Radical
Our Climate Change Is Radical
Why Greenhouse Gases Matter
Climate Change Is a Ticking Time Bomb
Because Climate Change Is a Ticking Time Bomb, Not All Greenhouse Gases Matter Equally
Why Deforestation Matters
Not All Deforestation Matters Equally
Animal Agriculture Causes Climate Change
Animal Agriculture Is a/the Leading Cause of Climate Change
It Will Be Impossible to Defuse the Ticking Time Bomb Without Reducing Our Consumption of Animal Products
Not All Actions Are Equal
Not All Foods Are Equal
How to Prevent the Greatest Dying
III. Only Home
Mapping Our Vision
Home Is Almost Always Imperceptible
Glimpses of Home
Glimpses of Ourselves
A Second Home
Glass
First Home
Final Home
IV. Dispute with the Soul
V. More Life
Finite Resources
The Flood and the Ark
That Is the Question
After Us
Life Note
Appendix: 14.5 percent / 51 percent
Notes
Bibliography
Acknowledgments
Also by Jonathan Safran Foer
A Note About the Author
Copyright
Farrar, Straus and Giroux
120 Broadway, New York 10271
Copyright © 2019 by Jonathan Safran Foer
All rights reserved
First edition, 2019
Grateful acknowledgment is made for permission to reprint the following previously published material:
Excerpt from “Learning How to Die in the Anthropocene,” by Roy Scranton, from The New York Times. © 2013 The New York Times. All rights reserved. Used under license.
Excerpt from “Raising My Child in a Doomed World,” by Roy Scranton, from The New York Times. © 2018 The New York Times. All rights reserved. Used under license.
E-book ISBN: 978-0-374-71252-5
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*An explanation of these different calculations can be found in the appendix.