“Kettle lakes are natural wells refreshed from deep groundwater filtered through grit-free sand, all formed more than 10,000 years ago when glaciers retreated and isolated slabs of ice melted . . . The author’s enthusiasm shines through as he uses personal experience, literary references and the history of American popular culture—'going up to the lake' for the summer generally meant a kettle lake—to illustrate this lively chronicle of a hitherto obscure environmental feature. A rich, exhaustive account of one of America’s threatened ecological jewels.”—Kirkus Reviews

“In his morbidly fascinating nonfiction eco-thriller, The World Without Us, Weisman imagines what would happen if the earth’s most invasive species—ourselves—were suddenly and completely wiped out . . . Weisman knows from the work of environmental historians that humans have been shaping the natural world since long before the industrial age. His inner Deep Ecologist may dream of Earth saying good riddance to us, but he finds some causes for hope amid the general run of man-bites-planet bad news . . . In the end, it's the cold facts and cooler heads that drive Weisman's cautionary message powerfully home.”—Jennifer Schuessler, The New York Times Book Review