‘The Anthropocene Reviewed’ Selected as U of I’s 2024-25 Common Read

MOSCOW, Idaho — University of Idaho has chosen “The Anthropocene Reviewed” by John Green as its Common Read for 2024-25.

“The Common Read committee, composed of students, faculty and community members, felt this selection was a perfect choice to accentuate the scholastic strengths of the institution, explore the current issues facing our planet and develop balance in our global view of the world,” said Dean Panttaja, U of I’s director of General Education.

“The Anthropocene Reviewed,” a collection of personal essays, was the Goodreads Choice winner for nonfiction in 2021 and an instant No. 1 bestseller.

Its summary says, “The Anthropocene is the current geologic age, in which humans have profoundly reshaped the planet and its biodiversity. In this remarkable symphony of essays adapted and expanded from his groundbreaking podcast, bestselling author John Green reviews different facets of the human-centered planet on a five-star scale — from the QWERTY keyboard and sunsets to Canada geese and ‘Penguins of Madagascar.’”

It has been called “funny, complex and rich with detail,” “the perfect book for right now” and “essential to the human conversation.”

In addition to “Anthropocene,” Green is the author of five novels, including the 2012 breakout success “The Fault in Our Stars,” which was adapted into a movie in 2014. His most recent novel, “Turtles All the Way Down,” was published in 2017.

Now in its 17th year, the Common Read is designed to engage the university and Moscow community in a unified intellectual activity. First-year students will be assigned to read the book as part of their first-year studies courses and in the first-year writing composition sequence, all part of the General Education program.

Other recent Common Reads have included “Educated: A Memoir” by Tara Westover in 2018; “There There” by Tommy Orange in 2019; “The Book of Unknown Americans” by Cristina Henriquez in 2020; “Grit: The Power and Passion of Perseverance” by Angela Duckworth in 2021; “So you Want to Talk About Race” by Ijeoma Oluo in 2022; and the “The Nature Fix” by Florence Williams in 2023. 

Copies of “The Anthropocene Reviewed” will be available later this summer through the VandalStore and BookPeople of Moscow.

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Media Contacts:

Dean Panttaja
Director, General Education and Assessment
University of Idaho
208-885-9025
panttaja@uidaho.edu

Danae Lenz
External Communications Coordinator
University of Idaho
406-672-4600
dlenz@uidaho.edu