cover image What You Won’t Do for Love: A Conversation

What You Won’t Do for Love: A Conversation

David Suzuki et al. Coach House, $16.95 trade paper (104p) ISBN 978-1-55245-454-1

Suzuki and Tara Cullis, married cofounders of the David Suzuki Foundation, join with directors Miriam Fernandes and Ravi Jain for this pensive exploration of the climate crisis. The authors frame the work as a play—one that prizes the contributors’ thoughts on the changing climate over plot. Recounting past activism in Brazil and elsewhere, the cast acknowledges that “thirty years ago we stopped some logging, stopped some oil wells, stopped some dams. And today we are fighting the very same battles we thought we had won.” They emphasize the importance of recognizing the interconnectedness of people and nature and embracing “what Indigenous people have known for thousands of years, which is that we have a spiritual connection, a sacred relationship” to the earth. Despite some cliches (“We forget how much power and influence we actually have... and the difference we can actually make”), this is admirable for its creative approach in a sea of books on the topic. Readers interested in the intersections of art and activism will want to give this a look. (Sept.)