Booklist Review

Ecopsychology may sound like an esoteric concept, but once you read through the essays collected in Ecopscyhology, the link between the health of the human psyche and the health of the planet seems obvious. The contributors to this paradigm-shifting anthology--including Lester O. Brown, Chellis Glendinning, Ralph Metzner, Theodore Roszak, and Laura Sewall--build on this connection between the personal and the planetary, the emotional and the ecological. Topics include technology and stress; consumerism and disenfranchisement from the natural world; the feeling of loss and despair as plant and animal species become extinct; and the age-old link between healing and knowledge of the natural world. Environmentalist and journalist Jensen introduces his collection of interviews, Listening to the Land, with a striking statement: "We are members of the most destructive culture ever to exist." Perplexed as to why we turned out this way and wondering if there is any hope for change, Jensen sought out such pioneering activists and deep thinkers as David Foreman, Christopher Manes, Susan Griffin, and Thomas Berry. Jensen also spoke to Chickasaw poet, novelist, and essayist Linda Hogan for a Native American perspective; Frederick Turner for his views on the conquest of the New World; Starhawk for a definition of ecofeminism; and Terry Tempest Williams, who speaks lyrically yet forcefully about eroticism, the desert, and fear of emotion. With 30 contributors in all, this is a far-reaching, stimulating collection. --Donna Seaman