Joy Williams (1) (1944–)

Picked up this book after seeing the author’s name mentioned in Tao Lin’s Leaving Society and this particular volume on Lin’s end of the year of books he read in 2023.
I’d never heard of Joyce Williams before, but this collection of essays, ostensibly about ecology, nature, etc appealed to me. I probably agree with most of Williams’ views expressed within about how human beings continue to be a scourge on the natural environment, and how we have, despite all our past and ongoing “progress” can’t seem to temper our desires to the consume and conquer everything we come across. From the get-go, however, Williams settles into a polemical mood, and barely lets up for the length of the book. At several points I was overcome by the sensation that I was reading a transcription of a George Carlin style rant - so much so was the rage and passion Williams feels about these topics practically spluttering off the page. A few of the more vitriolic essays often resort to listing human beings various ecological sins in an attempt to paint a sort of Boschian portrait of the hellscape the earth has become at our doing. I’ve never loved reading things that I simply agree with and that don’t offer me any novel nuance or intellectual challenge on a topic, and that was mostly the problem here. Maybe times have changed and the points Williams is making here just don’t seem so radical anymore, what with mass extinction and global warming all but certain at this point.

There were two essays in this collection that are excellent. The first is when Williams tells the saga of the property she owned in the Florida Keys for 30 years. The valiant effort she made to create natural oasis amongst soulless development is really cool and her description of her home set me dreaming about the way I’d like to have my house in the future (if I ever have one). The second essay that really bowled me over was the one about her dog Hawk. I had to sit my book down for several long minutes after and stare into space to mulled over a bit the bleak and poignant beauty of this one, the contradictions of being a pet owner, the crushing responsibility of taking care of another living thing, and the uncanny descriptions of the process for disposal of pet remains.

will eventually get around to reading something else by Williams.… (more)