The Moth Snowstorm cover art

The Moth Snowstorm

Nature and Joy

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The Moth Snowstorm

By: Michael McCarthy
Narrated by: Gordon Griffin
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About this listen

Michael McCarthy, one of Britain's leading writers on the environment, proposes this joy as a defence of a natural world which is ever more threatened and which, he argues, is inadequately served by the two defences put forward hitherto: sustainable development and the recognition of ecosystem services.

Drawing on a wealth of memorable experiences from a lifetime of watching and thinking about wildlife and natural landscapes, McCarthy presents a new way of looking at the world.

©2015 Michael McCarthy (P)2015 W F Howes Ltd Animals Biological Sciences Ecology Nature & Ecology Outdoors & Nature Physics Science

Critic reviews

"A great, rhapsodic, urgent book full of joy, grief, rage and love.... A must-read." (Helen Macdonald, author of H is for Hawk)
"Impassioned, polemical and personal.... At its heart, this is a book aiming to persuade those who are broadly sympathetic to think in a different way, and in that it is surely a success - and a joy." ( Independent)
"Articulated beautifully...his quest to track down every British butterfly as a tribute to his dead mother brought me to tears." ( Sunday Times)
All stars
Most relevant

Where does The Moth Snowstorm rank among all the audiobooks you’ve listened to so far?

Near the top.

What did you like best about this story?

I loved hearing about the birds and the author's views of them.

What about Gordon Griffin’s performance did you like?

I liked how he read the book overall.

If you made a film of this book, what would be the tag line be?

I don't think it's the type of book that would make a good film. Not enough story or drama.

Any additional comments?

I found this book interesting and easy to follow, even though there were 2 strands, the author's upbringing and continuing relations with family and his views on nature as a whole.

A snowstorm I actually enjoyed.

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t
Thoroughly enjoyed it and would totally recommend it to anyone who loves the natural world.

Wonderful book on so many levels.

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I loved everything about this book. It was about nature and science but had a real heart to it too. It is a rare blend of being personal, without being overly self-referential. What will remain with me is how well he conveyed the magic and joy that comes from observing nature. It's cliched but it's genuinely made me stop and look about a bit more.

A gem

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McCarthy introduces a powerful idea, the concept of defence through joy, because we only protect that which we love, and he believes that humans are unique in their capacity to love their planet.

Passionate and pragmatic

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