How Far the Light Reaches: A Life in Ten Sea Creatures

"A miraculous, transcendental book. Sabrina Imbler is a generational talent, and this book is a gift to us all." -- ED YONG, New York Times Bestselling author of I Contain Multitudes

 

A queer, mixed race writer working in a largely white, male field, science and conservation journalist Sabrina Imbler has always been drawn to the mystery of life in the sea, and particularly to creatures living in hostile or remote environments. Each essay in their debut collection profiles one such creature: the mother octopus who starves herself while watching over her eggs, the Chinese sturgeon whose migration route has been decimated by pollution and dams, the bizarre Bobbitt worm (named after Lorena), and other uncanny creatures lurking in the deep ocean, far below where the light reaches. Imbler discovers that some of the most radical models of family, community, and care can be found in the sea, from gelatinous chains that are both individual organisms and colonies of clones to deep-sea crabs that have no need for the sun, nourished instead by the chemicals and heat throbbing from the core of the Earth. Exploring themes of adaptation, survival, sexuality, and care, and weaving the wonders of marine biology with stories of their own family, relationships, and coming of age, How Far the Light Reaches is a book that invites us to envision wilder, grander, and more abundant possibilities for the way we live.

 

Author: Sabrina Imbler
Publisher: Little Brown and Company
Published: 12/06/2022
Pages: 272
Binding Type: Hardcover
ISBN: 9780316540537

Review Citation(s):
Library Journal Prepub Alert 07/01/2022 pg. 8
Publishers Weekly 08/29/2022
Kirkus Reviews 11/01/2022