Reno, Seth T. (Ed.). (2022). The Anthropocene: Approaches and Contexts for Literature and the Humanities. Routledge.

Two decades into Anthropocene studies and the proliferation of both commercial and academic publications that engage with the term coined by Nobel Prize-winning atmospheric chemist Paul Crutzen in 1995, the editor of The Anthropocene: Approaches and Contexts for Literature and the Humanities compiled a volume specifically meant to serve as an introduction to college students and teachers, as well as non-specialists into "how literature and the humanities are central to understanding and living in this new epoch" (Reno 6).Seth T. Reno's "Introduction: The Anthropocene and the Humanities" argues convincingly for clarifying how this widely used interdisciplinary concept can contribute to the survival of humanity increasingly hard-pressed to adapt to accelerated climate change and unprecedented technological development.The Anthropocene, "simultaneously a geologic epoch, a scientific term, and a cultural concept with no single, definitive narrative" (Reno 3), impacts us all in this last capacity, as it seeks to address the philosophical premises and the social, political, and economic forces that led to the major shift in the way humans relate to the natural world.The book highlights the collective responsibility this entails, since the narratives that help us make sense of the Anthropocene are currently being negotiated-who will be the story-tellers and what stories will be told-and invites the reader to engage with the concept through accessible, jargon-free language.In order to accomplish successful engagement, Part 1 covers major theoretical approaches in seven chapters: from the already established environmental humanities, queer theory, and literary criticism to more novel branches: the energy humanities and environmental racism.Part 2 puts these into practice in eight chapters, relying on re-readings of works by classic