Monica’s Reviews > The Best American Essays 2019 > Status Update

Come Heat and High Water - Mario Alejandro Ariza looks at the effects of climate change on Florida and Miami. It would seem that the ecological ravages of climate change are not seriously being addressed and it will result in mass extinction in an area that has some of the most biological diversity in the US. Such losses would be catastrophic (coral reefs etc).

Obituary for Dead Languages - Interesting essay that contrasts the dying languages with the advancements of science. The idea being that we willingly allow languages and cultures to die while conjuring ways to bring back a mammoth. Will mankind find a way, centuries from now, to try to revive languages? Affecting.

We Are Not the Resistance - Michelle Alexander posits that Donald Trump and Trumpism are the resistance, and that social progress requires a revolution not resistance. I think she's right. We need change but not Trump kind of change. But society before Trump had serious issues as well. A return to "the established norms" is also problematic in my view.

Comforting Myths - Rabih Alameddine discussion representation in literature and how the Western world assimilates. Ex: Amy Tan born and raised in California represents Chinese writers or how he represents Lebanon living in Kuwait. How people who actually lived and were raised in the country they write about frequently go unnoticed. A thoughtful essay.