Anyone who has life insurance, health insurance, or fire insurance already understands the idea of preparing for a bad event you hope won’t happen, so I’m often surprised by how reluctant otherwise thoughtful people are to consider what they might do to make sure they and their loved ones are better prepared for an emergency. We had Katrina in New Orleans, we saw what happened in Japan after the Touhouku quake and tsunami in Japan, we just had Hurricane Sandy in the northeast, and there are countless other examples, some relatively small, some major, that provide ample proof that civilization and its protections and comforts aren’t things we ought to take for granted.

If you’re here today, you’re already sensibly concerned, and having read Mat’s book, I can guarantee you’re about to acquire valuable information that combined with your existing concern will make you better prepared.

William DeBuys’ A Great Aridness is a love song and keening lament for the American Southwest in our era of man-made climate change. He manages to capture the romantic allure and the scientific observations of the desert, transcending both perspectives in a fiercely living narrative. His search for wisdom takes him from reservations to mountaintops, from university halls to boom-and-bust exurbs.