How Far the Light Reaches
Sabrina ImblerOne of TIME’s 10 Best Nonfiction Books of the Year
• A PEOPLE Best New Book
• A Barnes & Noble and SHELF AWARENESS Best Book of 2022
• An Indie Next Pick • One of Winter’s Most Eagerly Anticipated Books: VANITY FAIR, VULTURE, BOOKRIOT
A queer, mixed race writer working in a largely white, male field, science and conservation journalist Sabrina Imbler has always been drawn to the mystery of life in the sea, & particularly to creatures living in hostile or remote environments.
Each essay in their debut collection profiles one such creature, including: the mother octopus who starves herself while watching over her eggs, the Chinese sturgeon whose migration route has been decimated by pollution & dams, the bizarre, predatory Bobbitt worm (named after Lorena), the common goldfish that flourishes in the wild, and more.
Imbler discovers that some of the most radical models of family, community, & care can be found in the sea, from gelatinous chains that are both individual organisms & colonies of clones to deep-sea crabs that have no need for the sun, nourished instead by the chemicals & heat throbbing from the core of the Earth.
Exploring themes of adaptation, survival, sexuality, & care, & weaving the wonders of marine biology with stories of their own family, relationships, & coming of age, How Far the Light Reaches is a shimmering, otherworldly debut that attunes us to new visions of our world & its miracles.