The challenge and responsibility of personhood, it seems to me, is to recognize personhood in others — to listen to others’ pain and take it seriously, even when you yourself cannot feel it. That capacity for listening, I think, really does separate human life from the quasi-life of an enterovirus. — The Anthropocene Reviewed , John Green

In our digital era, reviews are ubiquitous. Specifically, we now find reviews and ratings based on quantitative scales that can be aggregated to determine the worth of products, places, and even the mundane objects such as a park bench. With the ever expanding domain of the internet, everyone now has a place to be a reviewer. Even as you read these words, you are reading my review. Your decision to click and read my writing has given value to my opinions as a reviewer.

John Green tackles this novel idea of internet reviews in his latest book, The Anthropocene Reviewed, a departure from his usual works of fiction. Despite the non-fiction genre, Green’s newest book maintains a sense of personal storytelling fitting of his artistry.

The book is arranged into a series of essays, each written as a review of a wide range of themes and topics plucked from John Green’s life such as Liverpool’s Miracle of Istanbul, opinions on his city of Indianapolis, and the lessons learned from playing Super Mario Kart. Each essay ends with a rating on a 5-star scale, both reflecting Green’s reverence for certain topics and highlighting the absurdity of reducing such complex human endeavors to a single number.

Despite being a collection of different essays, I would suggest not to start reading from any point in the book. There is a particular flow that threads through from the first to the last page, from one essay to the next. My experience with the book was much more satisfying with a full read through, gaining a bigger picture of Green’s life as opposed to individual snippets here and there.

Knowing John Green as the beloved teacher for the Crash Course World History and American History series, I purchased this book thinking it would be similar to other books that recap human history, notably Yuval Noah Harari’s Sapiens and Elizabeth Kolbert’s The Sixth Extinction. However, I was pleasantly surprised to find that the book instead works as an homage to pieces of history that have shaped John Green’s life. His writing feels alive and rhythmic, carrying the same soul and vibrance that I have come to adore after watching countless hours of his lectures and rants on YouTube.

The Anthropocene Reviewed represents a mediation on history and how the history we choose to value is entirely shaped around our personal experiences. But it also teaches us a larger lesson: essentializing parts of our lives, as we do when we rate and review online, we strip away the absurd and beautiful nature that we humans are meant to embrace. It is the gift of living on this Earth. It is the present of the Anthropocene.