Short story with an environmentalism bent that is disturbing in an visceral, empathetic way. ( )

Pollution Derangement Syndrome
Review of the Amazon Original Kindle eBook edition (October 2018)

This short story is very much a piece with those in Lauren Groff's collection Florida (published June 2018) which I did read shortly around the time of its release, but which I found too depressing to review at the time. Boca Raton has librarian and mother Ange spiralling into depression after finding a nest of dead birds during a Girl Scout Troop trash cleanup with her daughter Lily. The mother bird had been feeding the chicks plastic garbage. After the experience, all things bird and egg related begin to nauseate Ange and she becomes an insomniac. Fellow librarian Phyllis tries to counsel her.

The theme here was out of sync with the cli-fi theme of the Warmer Collection series as it dealt primarily with a depression related to pollution rather than climate change.

Boca Raton is one of the 7 short stories included in the Warmer Collection, a series of climate-related fiction released October 30, 2018 from Amazon Original Stories. Fear and hope collide in this collection of possible tomorrows. What happens when boiling heat stokes family resentments; when a girl’s personal crisis trumps global catastrophe; or when two climate scientists decide to party like it’s the end of the world? Like the best sci-fi, these cli-fi stories offer up answers that are darkly funny, liberating, and all too conceivable. ( )

Boca Raton is the story of a woman's descent into madness because she fears the effects of global climate change. It's the 2nd of 7 stories in the Warmer collection from Amazon Originals/Audible.

It all starts when Ange finds dead baby birds on the beach, killed by little bits of plastic they consumed. Then it dawns on her....global warming will destroy the wildlife habitats in Florida, destroy farms that grow food and ultimately destroy her young daughter's life along with millions of others -- humans and animals alike. She starts to drink, growing increasingly paranoid and emotionally overwhelmed.

While I understand the intent of this story and the importance of being good stewards of this planet....I didn't like this story. I just don't really enjoy stories that have no hope...where the characters have no chance. The main character is so out of control....her own descent into mental instability starts destroying her daughter's life...and her own....way before global warming would have had any effect.

I listened to the audible audio version of this short story/novella. Dana Rosenberg narrates the story quite well. Rosenberg skillfully brings across the panic, emotion and fear of the main character. The audio is only about an hour long, so it's easy listening length.

I'm two stories into this collection and not really feelin' it. So far, the stories are thinly veiled commentary on modern issues rather than tales about climate change. I'm on overload when it comes to social commentary at the moment. Because the stories are short, I will keep listening and see if any of these tales actually ends up being predominantly about climate change. So far.....not. ( )

Shredders woman a la anthropocene ( )