Pippa’s Reviews > The Anthropocene Reviewed: Essays on a Human-Centered Planet > Status Update

Scratch ‘n’ sniff stickers: I will never find these stickers as interesting or emotionally resonant as John does, but it’s cool to be reminded how they’re made. 3/5

Our Capacity for Wonder: The story of The Great Gatsby’s popularity is interesting, but relatively common knowledge. What really captivated me here was the short anecdote about Henry and his 2-year-old wonder versus John’s as an adult. For that, 4/5.

Halley’s Comet: This is a lovely little essay, more John in its writing because of its voice than its content. A really accessible history of Halley’s Comet, including putting events over time into stark perspective. Like John’s essay concludes, 4.5/5.

Humanity’s Temporal Range: Earnest beyond John’s usual earnestness. I found my eyes sliding off the page a bit with this one. There was just a lot about humanity’s doggedness and the survival of the species for my taste. 3/5

'You'll Never Walk Alone': As someone who has witnessed John Green's reverence for English football and Liverpool FC for the past 15 or so years with varying levels of bemusement, this was an utterly unsurprising first essay. He's found exactly why football songs are so affecting, if in a way that's a bit less impactful now that there are so many things that are more important in the world than COVID. 4/5.

I'm taking the opportunity to do the funny thing and rate a bunch of reviews individually.