{"product_id":"the-last-catastrophe-isbn-9780593315262","title":"The Last Catastrophe","description":"\u003cb\u003eA hopeful, speculative short story collection about how humanity grapples in a world transformed by climate change.\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003e“Climate fiction does not owe readers hope, but through humor and humanity Hyde manages to present a harsh reality without descending into despair, offering a space for mourning and for reimagining life in a permanently changed world. Each of the 15 stories is swiftly paced and engaging, rich with detail, highlighting and celebrating nature as it borders on the unnatural.” —\u003ci\u003eThe New York Times Book Review\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eA vast caravan of RVs roams the United States. A girl grows a unicorn horn, complicating her small-town friendships and big city ambitions. A young lady on a spaceship bonds with her AI warden while trying to avoid an arranged marriage. In Allegra Hyde’s universe nothing is as it seems, yet the challenges encountered in these pages mirror those we face in our modern age. Spanning the length of our very solar system, the fifteen stories in this collection explore a myriad of potential futures through the concept of “global weirding,” planetary and social disruptions due to climate change. In unexpected and genre-defying ways, this revelatory collection reminds us that our world is precious, and that protecting it has the potential to bring us all together.\u003cb\u003e*Named a best short story collection of the year by \u003ci\u003eThe Chicago Review of Books\u003c\/i\u003e, \u003ci\u003eElectric Lit\u003c\/i\u003e, \u003ci\u003eOur Culture Magazine\u003c\/i\u003e,\u003ci\u003e \u003c\/i\u003eand Largehearted Boy*\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e \u003cb\u003e*Named a best LGBTQ+ book of the year by \u003ci\u003ethem*\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e \u003cb\u003e \u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e “Climate fiction does not owe readers hope, but through humor and humanity Hyde manages to present a harsh reality without descending into despair, offering a space for mourning and for reimagining life in a permanently changed world. Each of the 15 stories is swiftly paced and engaging, rich with detail, highlighting and celebrating nature as it borders on the unnatural.”\u003cbr\u003e—\u003ci\u003eThe New York Times Book Review\u003c\/i\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e“While \u003ci\u003eThe Last Catastrophe\u003c\/i\u003e is a brilliant collection from many angles, Hyde particularly excels in one notoriously difficult way: making the amorphous and incomprehensible aspects of climate change and its effects feel tangibly real. The climate crisis, unfortunately for activists and everyone else who inhabits this planet, can be simultaneously unfathomable and more than a bit boring in the technical details of how many degrees Celsius the temperature can rise before we’re all done for. Fortunately for readers, \u003ci\u003eThe Last Catastrophe\u003c\/i\u003e is neither unfathomable nor boring. Quite the opposite. The stories proceed jauntily and are each so captivating that by the time you reach the last story—“The Eaters,” which, at over fifty pages, qualifies as a novella—you’re even a little sad it isn’t longer.”\u003cbr\u003e —\u003ci\u003eChicago Review of Books\u003c\/i\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e“Urgent and timely.”\u003cbr\u003e —\u003ci\u003eElectric Lit\u003c\/i\u003e\u003cbr\u003e  \u003cbr\u003e “This short story collection from the author of last year’s novel \u003ci\u003eEleutheria\u003c\/i\u003e is one of the most compelling books I’ve read in years. . . . The book flies by. . . . This was a no-skips collection for me, and I can’t recommend it enough.”\u003cbr\u003e —Sarah Neilson, \u003ci\u003ethem\u003c\/i\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e “Filled with powerful, brilliant stories of the future brough to life by a masterful storyteller.”\u003cbr\u003e —Largehearted Boy\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e“Amazing. . . . Each story presents personal catastrophes amid the larger, more cataclysmic catastrophe of climate change.”\u003cbr\u003e —\u003ci\u003eBuzzfeed\u003c\/i\u003e\u003cbr\u003e \u003ci\u003e \u003c\/i\u003e\u003cbr\u003e “\u003ci\u003eThe Last Catastrophe\u003c\/i\u003e is akin to watching an episode of \u003ci\u003eBlack Mirror\u003c\/i\u003e. The stories are strange and dissociating and unapologetically bizarre. Hyde is a strong-voiced writer with an energy that pulsates on the page. This control of language amplifies the story’s speculative elements. . . . A personal favorite is “Cougar,” where forty-something LeeAnn from Dallas is sent to the Udall-Meyers Treatment Center for Digital Disorders. . . . LeeAnn herself is in denial about the effects of her own disorder, which is initially kept from the reader, and the ending of this story is as satisfying as one might find in one written by George Saunders. . . . Hyde is a writer utterly her own. For readers interested in the speculative and short stories outside the usual subjects and forms, “The Last Catastrophe” is one to add to the shelf.”\u003cbr\u003e —\u003ci\u003eNewcity Lit\u003c\/i\u003e\u003cbr\u003e \u003ci\u003e \u003c\/i\u003e\u003cbr\u003e “Hyde follows up last year’s environmentalist satire \u003ci\u003eEleutheria\u003c\/i\u003e with a new collection of brisk and somewhat upbeat speculative stories about a girl with a unicorn horn, foster husbands looking for forever homes, and more.”\u003cbr\u003e —\u003ci\u003eThe Philadelphia Inquirer\u003c\/i\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e“These excellent stories dig into ruined biomes and food chains, reveal humans haunted by the ghosts of trees and creatures that have gone extinct. Hyde explores what humanity will do to distract itself from the destruction it’s wreaked and what illusions we’ll create to hide from the damage we’ve done—while exposing the absurdities of trying to survive in a world increasingly warped by climate change, hunger, and capitalist priorities.”\u003cbr\u003e —\u003ci\u003eBooklist\u003c\/i\u003e (starred review)\u003cbr\u003e  \u003cbr\u003e “After \u003ci\u003eEleutheria\u003c\/i\u003e (2022), Hyde returns to the climate crisis with a collection of short stories that jump between dystopias and parallel universes, seamlessly blending humor and tragedy. . . . There’s a sublime, filmic quality to the stories, in which Hyde expertly inverts the familiar. . . . We're invited along on an often bizarre ride in which we see the ridiculousness of our own world reflected back at us, with Hyde managing to stress the urgency of the climate catastrophe without lecturing us. At once a testament to and a caution against ‘the despairing human’s capacity for ingenuity.’”\u003cbr\u003e —\u003ci\u003eKirkus Reviews\u003c\/i\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e“Allegra Hyde wrote one of 2022’s best novels, \u003ci\u003eEleutheria,\u003c\/i\u003e and her second story collection, \u003ci\u003eThe Last Catastrophe,\u003c\/i\u003e contains more optimistic visions of the future than most of the books on this list, despite the specter of climate change.”\u003cbr\u003e —\u003ci\u003ePolygon, \u003c\/i\u003e\"The Science Fiction and Fantasy Books We’re Excited for in 2023\"\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e“Dazzling, inventive, and glinting with dark humor, Allegra Hyde’s stories stare apocalypse straight in the eye and find precious glimmers of grace therein. This enthralling collection speaks powerfully to our time, and to those times that are still to come.”\u003cbr\u003e —Alexandra Kleeman, author of \u003ci\u003eSomething New Under the Sun\u003c\/i\u003e\u003cbr\u003e  \u003cbr\u003e “I always keep an empty space on my bookshelf for my next favorite book, and \u003ci\u003eThe Last Catastrophe\u003c\/i\u003e has taken that spot. A dazzling and unassumingly brilliant collection, Allegra Hyde’s stories take hold and never, ever let go. These aren’t stories you will forget—these are stories that will become part of your DNA: undeniable elements of the human experience. \u003ci\u003eThe Last Catastrophe\u003c\/i\u003e is a masterwork of hope against a changing—and oftentimes unforgiving—world.”\u003cbr\u003e —Morgan Talty, author of \u003ci\u003eNight of the Living Rez\u003c\/i\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e“Even the ghosts in this fierce, visionary story collection are vibrantly alive, full of questions about the precarious world we’ve made, and who we might become as we hurtle forward to uncertain futures. What awaits us there, in Allegra Hyde’s rowdy, unsparing imagination, is not just devastation, but sharp humor, delightful strangeness, and flashes of deliverance.”\u003cbr\u003e —Caitlin Horrocks, author of \u003ci\u003eLife Among the Terranauts\u003c\/i\u003e\u003cbr\u003e \u003ci\u003e \u003c\/i\u003e\u003cbr\u003e “I’ve admired Allegra Hyde’s stunning stories of near future and small apocalypses for years. This new collection is electrifying, filled with astonishing beauty and lyricism at the same time that it warns us of the horrors of what our futures could become and what America already is. Zookeepers, RV nomads, high school drama teachers who glow with light, body-switching beauties, zombies—the voices in this collection will keep you rapt, awestruck at what unfolds.”\u003cbr\u003e —Brenda Peynado, author of \u003ci\u003eThe Rock Eaters\u003c\/i\u003e\u003cbr\u003e \u003cb\u003e \u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e “A Molotov cocktail is a bottle of gasoline. An Allegra cocktail is a collection of stories. Both are on fire and should be hurled at the nearest representative of a corrupt regime.\"\u003cbr\u003e —Matthew Baker, author of\u003ci\u003e Why Visit America \u003c\/i\u003eand \u003ci\u003eHybrid Creatures\u003c\/i\u003eALLEGRA HYDE is the author of the novel \u003ci\u003eEleutheria\u003c\/i\u003e and the story collection \u003ci\u003eOf This New World\u003c\/i\u003e, which won the John Simmons Short Fiction Award. Her stories and essays have appeared in \u003ci\u003eThe Pushcart Prize\u003c\/i\u003e, \u003ci\u003eBest of the Net\u003c\/i\u003e, \u003ci\u003eThe Best Small Fictions\u003c\/i\u003e, \u003ci\u003eThe Best American Travel Writing\u003c\/i\u003e, and elsewhere. She lives in Ohio and teaches at Oberlin College.\u003cb\u003eContents\u003cbr\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e Mobilization\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003e I\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e Disruptions\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e The Tough Part\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e Zoo Suicides\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e Afterglow\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e Chevalier\u003cbr\u003e \u003cb\u003e\u003cbr\u003e II\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e The Future Is a Click Away\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e Endangered\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e Loving Homes for Lost \u0026amp; Broken Men\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e Cougar\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003e\u003cbr\u003e III\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e Frights\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e Democracy in America\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e Adjustments\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e Colonel Merryweather’s Intergalactic Finishing School for Young Ladies of Grace \u0026amp; Good Nature\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e The Eaters","brand":"Vintage","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":46300341895397,"sku":"NP9780593315262","price":17.0,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":false}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/1842\/7735\/files\/9780593315262.jpg?v=1767740119","url":"https:\/\/k12savings.com\/products\/the-last-catastrophe-isbn-9780593315262","provider":"K12savings","version":"1.0","type":"link"}