Review
Praise for How To Breathe Underwater
“Chris Turner is among the best magazine writers on the planet. His writing is so beautiful, wry and well-reported that it's spellbinding. And spellbreaking: He wakes you up, makes you sit upright and look afresh at our culture, our climate, and where we need to go. This is literary nonfiction at its finest.”―Clive Thompson, Wired columnist and author of Smarter Than You Think
"Chris Turner is the master of long-form journalism in Canada, a smart, funny, and endlessly curious envoy to everywhere. This collection gathers his best work, forging links of meaning in a chain of superb reporting and writing; readers will see many choice pieces and realize, maybe for the first time, that they were all fashioned by the same indefatigable intelligence."―Mark Kingwell, the author of A Civil Tongue
"Whatever you choose to call this kind of stylishly reported, deeply engaged, richly nuanced, gorgeously written nonfiction--saturation reportage, new journalism, longform writing--it without question qualifies as real literature. It's the only kind of journalism that gets remembered, and the only kind that produces real change. Chris Turner has been writing it since he started taking notes.”―Ian Brown, author of The Boy in the Moon and Globe & Mail feature writer
Praise for Chris Turner
“Chris Turner's revealing book should be required reading.”―David Suzuki
“Smart and funny.”―Hollywood Reporter
“There is so much to this book that everyone will love it.”―Bookslut
“One of the most arresting arguments for building a green economy yet in print ... I greatly admire Turner’s contagious enthusiasm and recommend his book as a compelling menu for energy reform.”―Globe & Mail
“A tremendously important book and you owe it to your country to read it.”―National Post
“An urgent book that anyone who cares about Canada―the idea, the nation, the democracy―should read.”―John Vaillant
“An argument of considerable reach and subtlety ... well researched, well written and persuasive. Its wide dissemination would do us all a favour.”―Canadian Geographic
“He shows both a lightness of touch suitable to his subject and the intellectual rigour to grasp its vast purview.”―Gazette (Montreal)
“One of this country’s smartest and most original pop-culture commentators.” ―Hour (Montreal)
Praise for How To Breathe Underwater
Chris Turner is among the best magazine writers on the planet. His writing is so beautiful, wry and well-reported that it's spellbinding. And spellbreaking: He wakes you up, makes you sit upright and look afresh at our culture, our climate, and where we need to go. This is literary nonfiction at its finest.”Clive Thompson, Wired columnist and author of Smarter Than You Think
"Chris Turner is the master of long-form journalism in Canada, a smart, funny, and endlessly curious envoy to everywhere. This collection gathers his best work, forging links of meaning in a chain of superb reporting and writing; readers will see many choice pieces and realize, maybe for the first time, that they were all fashioned by the same indefatigable intelligence."Mark Kingwell, the author of A Civil Tongue
"Whatever you choose to call this kind of stylishly reported, deeply engaged, richly nuanced, gorgeously written nonfiction--saturation reportage, new journalism, longform writing--it without question qualifies as real literature. It's the only kind of journalism that gets remembered, and the only kind that produces real change. Chris Turner has been writing it since he started taking notes.”Ian Brown, author of The Boy in the Moon and Globe & Mail feature writer
Praise for Chris Turner
Chris Turner's revealing book should be required reading.”David Suzuki
Smart and funny.”Hollywood Reporter
There is so much to this book that everyone will love it.”Bookslut
One of the most arresting arguments for building a green economy yet in print ... I greatly admire Turner’s contagious enthusiasm and recommend his book as a compelling menu for energy reform.”Globe & Mail
A tremendously important book and you owe it to your country to read it.”National Post
An urgent book that anyone who cares about Canadathe idea, the nation, the democracyshould read.”John Vaillant
An argument of considerable reach and subtlety ... well researched, well written and persuasive. Its wide dissemination would do us all a favour.”Canadian Geographic
He shows both a lightness of touch suitable to his subject and the intellectual rigour to grasp its vast purview.”Gazette (Montreal)
One of this country’s smartest and most original pop-culture commentators.” Hour (Montreal)
From the Back Cover
The essays and reportage in How to Breathe Underwater offer a panoramic overview of this age of radical change - from the online gambling boom in the Caribbean to Cyberjaya, the Malaysian government's attempt to build its own Silicon Valley; from video game design to digital-age tabloid journalism to the artistry of The Simpsons; and from the fate of the Great Barrier Reef to Cuba's economic limbo after the fall of the Soviet empire. In field reports that survey the rise of the internet in the 1990s, analyze the changing nature of mass culture in the digital age, and provide a multifaceted look at how human industry is shaping the planet's foundations, this collection presents a fractal portrait of a society in rapid flux.
About the Author
CHRIS TURNER is one of Canada's leading writers and speakers on sustainability and the global cleantech industry. His latest book is The Leap: How to Survive and Thrive in the Sustainable Economy (Random House Canada 2011). He is also the author of the 2007 bestseller The Geography of Hope: A Tour of the World We Need (Random House), a Globe & Mail Best Book of the Year and a finalist for the Governor General's Award for Nonfiction, the Alberta Literary Award for Nonfiction and the National Business Book Award.
Turner's first book was the international bestseller Planet Simpson: How a Cartoon Masterpiece Documented an Era and Defined a Generation (Random House 2004). His feature writing has earned seven National Magazine Awards and appeared in Fast Company, Time, Utne Reader, The Walrus, The Globe & Mail, Canadian Geographic and many other publications. He is a featured blogger at MNN.com. He lives in Calgary with his wife, the photographer Ashley Bristowe, and their two children.
