On Time and Water

“Andri Snær Magnason’s perspective on his country’s environment is unique and compelling. . . . The author tries to understand, and tries to make the reader understand, why the climate crisis is not widely perceived as a distinct, transformative event in the manner of, say, the fall of the Berlin Wall or the attacks of September 11th, 2001. The fundamental problem, as this book elucidates, is time. Climate change is a disaster in slow motion, and yet “slow” is a great deal faster than many people seem able to comprehend.”—The Economist

“With poetry and wonder Magnason summons deep emotions about our place on our planet. I was deeply moved and inspired by his words.”—Darren Aronofsky

“On Time and Water is about connections—across generations, cultures, landscapes, and species—showing us how delicate are the networks on which our survival depends, how precariously all natural life is poised on the brink of destruction. Combining memoir, interviews, literature, and science to give words to a catastrophe too enormous to comprehend, this book is a letter of farewell to lost worlds and a passionate appeal to preserve what remains.”—Anuradha Roy, author of All the Lives We Never Lived

“The love child of Chomsky and Lewis Carroll.”—Rebecca Solnit on The Casket of Time

“Andri Snær Magnason combines intimate history and collective mythology, essay reflection and memorial exploration, geography and environment, to bring the elusive reality of climate change painfully and dangerously close to each of us.”—Paolo Giordano

“I loved this book so much—it is a cerebral tale, well told and unabashedly philosophical. It is dark, funny and grim.”—New York Times on The Casket of Time

“Eco-lit needs more attention, and devotees will be pleased to discover a new addition from the Icelandic author Andri Snær Magnason, who writes with a Seussian mix of wonder, wit and gravitas. . . . Immensely satisfying.”—New York Times on The Story of the Blue Planet

“Orwell, Vonnegut, and Douglas Adams are felt on every page, though Magnason is never derivative. His satire and insightful social commentary sweeten the pot and the sheer wackiness of Magnason’s oversized imagination is invigorating.”—Publisher’s Weekly (starred review) on Lovestar

“Strange and refreshing—a lushly imagined future that reminded me of Vonnegut and Brautigan.”—Ed Park, author of Personal Days on Lovestar