Edward McPherson’s new book, The History of the Future, looks back to move forward. In prose that blends personal narrative and historical research with folklore and myth, the assistant professor of creative writing compares Dallas to Dallas and fracking to digging for dinosaurs in North Dakota boomtowns. With this approach, McPherson points out our need for a moral imperative of preservation rather than profit if we want to have any future at all.
“In The History of the Future, McPherson explores America in all its beauty and strangeness. He is funny and searching — a joy to read.”—Elizabeth Kolbert