First published 1995
A stowaway hermit crab named Buster scurries through Kingsolver's desert home, disrupting her peaceful life. Kingsolver observes Buster's manic-depressive tendencies with a moral vision and refreshing humor. She weaves these lessons on the urgency of being alive into 25 essays exploring themes of family, community, and the natural world. Kingsolver's canny pursuit of meaning in the inscrutable world compels us to find instructions for life in surprising places. At the heart, Kingsolver's essays offer a poetic, scientific perspective on the human experience.
Genres: family, nature, essays, non-fiction
Vibes: intimate, lyrical, thought-provoking
Tropes: found-family, poetic-perspective
288 pages · Paperback · Harper Perennial