“The World Without Us” by University of Arizona journalism professor Alan Weisman, the best-selling book on what the planet would look like without humans, has been named a finalist in the nonfiction category for the National Book Critics Circle prize.
It’s the latest in a series of kudos that Weisman’s book has earned so far this year. Barnes & Noble named “The World Without Us” its No. 1 nonfiction pick for 2007, calling it "one stellar standout," and “a fascinating work of speculative science by award-winning journalist Alan Weisman that examines the effects (lasting and transitory) of human society on Planet Earth."
Mother Jones dubbed “The World Without Us” one of its top 2007 Media Picks. And the Web site AlterNet included “The World Without Us” in its feature on "Books that will change the world."
Winners of the 34rd annual National Book Critics Circle prize will be announced March 6 in New York City. In nonfiction, the other finalists include Tim Weiner's “Legacy of Ashes: A History of the CIA,” which won the National Book Award; Philip Gura's “American Transcendentalism”; Daniel Walker Howe's “What Hath God Wrought: The Transformation of America 1815-1848"; and Harriet Washington's “Medical Apartheid: The Dark History of Medical Experimentation on Black Americans from Colonial Times to the Present.”
Kate Harrison
UA Journalism Department
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