The Apocalyptic #2: Lost Everything by Brian Francis Slattery

In the Weeds

In the second episode of my series on the apocalyptic, I talk to Brian Francis Slattery about his novel Lost Everything, which won the 2012 Philip K. Dick award.

The novel follows two friends on a mission up the Susquehanna River, in an apocalyptic not-too-distant future, in which climate change and civil war have transformed the Northeast of the United States into a tropical wasteland, replete with monkeys climbing over post-industrial ruins.

Slattery and I discuss the canoe trip he took along the Susquehanna with two biologist friends to research the book; his discussions with a religious friend that helped shape the novel, which he says he wrote so that it could yield both secular and religious readings; and his work as a journalist, which provided insight into the human and material costs of war.

We also compare notes on the apocalyptic in popular culture - why some people like it; what Slattery thinks is good (and isn’t) and the kind of mental and emotional work it faciliates.