The desert looms large in cultural imagery. Appearing in everything from the Bible to Thelma and Louise, the biome’s barren landscape can be used to signify many things. Imagining cacti, rattlesnakes or extreme temperatures can bring to mind a full range of experiences — everything from extreme hardship and struggle, to freedom and liberation. In his new book “Desert Notebooks: A Road Map for the End of Time,” Ben Ehrenreich anchors his social, cultural and political analysis in the desert. Ehrenreich uses the ubiquitous image of the desert to analyze the present moment, simultaneously providing reassurance and uncertainty. While “Desert Notebooks” was listed as one of “13 Books You Need to Read This Fall” by WIRED and as a new and recommendable book by the New York Times, it presents more confusion than conclusion.
The author’s firm political stances come across early on. This comes as no surprise given his job as a writer on climate change for The Nation. He refers to Donald Trumpas “the Rhino” and writes about the president by saying things like, “Today, at least, he was too scattered to insult Kim Jong-un.”
Ehrenreich also makes his stances clear regarding American’s abhorrent racial history. He states that “the doctrine of progress” was first “a theory of white supremacy.” These statements read as certain and firm. But Ehrenreich’s writing is also very scattered at times. He jumps from analyzing the French Revolution to mentioning that global warming — by way of rising sea levels — is endangering the “mysterious sculpted heads” on Easter Island.
This disorganized writing, which comprises a good portion of the book, is where Enhrenreich’s own privilege comes into play. He questions and overtly criticizes American power structures which empower straight, White, cisgendered men such as himself. He does not, however, examine his own role in these power structures. This leads to the question: Would a Black woman be able to publish a book that rambles about everything from ancient history to Ivanka Trump?
“Desert Notebooks” documents how scary our world is, from unnecessary international conflicts to the myriad shortcomings in our domestic politics. But do we really need another account of how chaotic the world is, especially from someone who occupies a position of such extreme privilege? Ehrenreich’s book is quite informative, and in that sense it is a more-than-decent record of the United States lately. But it leaves readers wanting more. More analysis of what is happening, for instance, could be a better use of Ehrenreich’s expertise. His 2016 book about what life is like in Palestine right now was written after he reported thoroughly on that situation from the West Bank. The strength of Enhrenreich’s first book seems to be its journalistic nature. When he tries to write about broad topics in his new book, it comes across as all over the place. “Desert Notebooks” leaves readers craving focus.
“Desert Notebooks” is a book that tries to write about everything and ends up presenting nothing new or noteworthy. Not only does this leave readers’ heads spinning, but it is also not constructive. It feels like a redundant book. How many times do we need to have a White man tell us that things are bad in America right now?