Elizabeth Kolbert, The Sixth Extinction

Harold Washington Library: Cindy Pritzker Auditorium, Lower Level. 400 S. State Street, Chicago, Il

Join One Book, One Chicago for Elizabeth Kolbert, author of this season’s selection, The Sixth Extinction as she appears for a season finale event to discuss her groundbreaking work with Donna Seaman, Booklist’s Editor of Adult Books.

Elizabeth Kolbert traveled from Alaska to Greenland, and visited top scientists, to get to the heart of the debate over global warming. Growing out of a groundbreaking three-part series in The New Yorker (which won the 2005 National Magazine Award in the category Public Interest), Field Notes From A Catastrophe brings the environment into the consciousness of the American people and asks what, if anything, can be done, and how we can save our planet. She explains the science and the studies, draws frightening parallels to lost ancient civilizations, unpacks the politics, and presents the personal tales of those who are being affected most—the people who make their homes near the poles and, in an eerie foreshadowing, are watching their worlds disappear. Field Notes from a Catastrophe: Man, Nature, and Climate Change was chosen as one of the 100 Notable Books of the Year (2006) by The New York Times Book Review.  Her book, The Sixth Extinction: An Unnatural History, a book about mass extinctions that weaves intellectual and natural history with reporting in the field, was a New York Times 2014 Top Ten Best Book of the Year and is number one on the Guardian’s list of the 100 Best Nonfiction Books of all time.  The Sixth Extinction also won the 2015 Pulitzer Prize in the General Nonfiction category, and was a finalist for the National Book Critics Circle awards for the best books of 2014. As with Field Notes from a Catastrophe, The Sixth Extinction began as an article in The New Yorker.

Doors to the Auditorium open at 5:00 p.m., and seating is first come, first served (385 capacity). Should the auditorium fill to capacity, guests will be seated in an overflow room and view the event by live video simulcast.  Books are available for purchase, and the author will autograph books at the conclusion of the program.

This program is a part of the 2019-2020 One Book, One Chicago season, exploring the theme Season For Change through the book The Sixth Extinction by Elizabeth Kolbert. For more information, visit www.onebookonechicago.org