Another Fine Mess

by Pope Brock

Now that we've pretty much ruined planet Earth--no big secret--science tells us the human race could be doomed. Well, not all science, but some of it, enough to have sparked a lively interest in setting up someplace else. But where?

The answer is the moon of course, and that's what this book explores: the many ways in which today's scientists, entrepreneurs, architects and, yes, a few loonies are working to get colonies established there ASAP. Filled with research, interviews and expert projections, these pages reveal how a web of fantastic new technologies could give mankind a brand new start off-world.

The only worm in the ointment is human nature. It's the one thing pioneers in this business almost never discuss. Yet it's of vital concern: given a second chance on the moon, will we use it to create at last a sane and peaceful society? Or will we make a desperate hash of things all over again?

Here's your doorway to the moon of tomorrow. Pass through and decide for yourself.

Genres: Science, Nonfiction, Space

174 pages, Paperback

Published September 12, 2017

About the author

Pope Brock is the author of the critically acclaimed Indiana Gothic: A Story of Adultery and Murder in an American Family, the story of his great-grandfather’s murder in 1908, and Charlatan: America's Most Dangerous Huckster, the Man Who Pursued Him, and the Age of Flimflam.

Brock has written for numerous publications, including Rolling Stone, Esquire, GQ, and the London Sunday Times Magazine.

He lives in upstate New York with his twin daughters, Molly and Hannah.

Reviews

[Melissa · Rating 4 out of 5]

A very readable set of essays ruminating on the possibility of colonizing the Moon once humans have finished ruining the Earth. Brock has done a lot of research, rounding up ideas from the logical (launchpoint for Mars missions) to the ludicrous (Las Vegas on the lunar surface). It's a bit self-congratulatorily clever in places but really worth reading for the sheer breadth of ideas humans have had about the Moon for centuries.

[Sadie Forsythe · Rating 4 out of 5]

I read this, one essay a day over a week and a half, and enjoyed it more than expected. It works well as a book you take small bites of.

[Bussola Vespucci · Rating 5 out of 5]

"Essays" always makes me think of boring school reports, so I picked this up prepared to be bored out of my mind, and probably maybe just skim.
NOT SO.
I was not bored, nor did I end up skimming.
In fact, this was HIGHLY ENJOYABLE.
Recommend. Strongly.
Read this.

[Burmajones · Rating 4 out of 5]

“If we’re talking about having sex with a robot, . . . the first question that zooms through my brain, subliminally almost, leaving behind vapor trails of revulsion, is: How lifelike are we talking? On a more granular level, what’s in the pants.”

“[S]afety is not my sole concern [with aliens]. I’m also reluctant to meet ETs because of my status as an introvert.”

Brock’s (generally) self-deprecating humor reminds me of Tim Moore (coincidentally? an author of a book called Another Fine Mess), if a bit more encrypted. Fortunately, Brock provides the encryption key in the endnotes to each chapter, which are also a fun read. I think I saw a criticism of Brock’s “choppy” writing style, which is fair, though I’d say it’s more of a choppy reading style. At times it’s like tackling poetry, where successive reads of a passage are separated by a brief “wait, what the fuck was that” pause.

In any event, I gobbled the stuff and am giving it four stars only because I wanted it to be three times as long.

[Dawna · Rating 5 out of 5]

Well referenced proof of Human Foible

He has done it again! The perfect balance of fact and absurdity—only Pope Brock could present bleak prospects that leave you laughing out loud. Yet, he didn’t make it up—this book is well-referenced with scientific articles—he simply added the conclusions. Yes, we are doomed, but Mr. Brock says it so nicely . . .

[Jennifer · Rating 4 out of 5]

Interesting book.

[David · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book is intriguing and wonderfully cool. It has a sense of wonder, intellectual investigation, and playful mockery. Can’t miss.

[Judi · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.5. Humorous, outrageous, and well-researched.