A Natural History of Empty Lots, Christopher Brown
A Natural History of Empty Lots, Christopher Brown
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A Natural History of Empty Lots
Field Notes from Urban Edgelands, Back Alleys, and Other Wild Places

Author: Christopher Brown

Narrator: Christopher Brown

Unabridged: 9 hr

Format: Digital Audiobook Download

Publisher: Timber Press

Published: 09/17/2024


Synopsis

A genre-bending blend of naturalism, memoir, and social manifesto for rewilding the city, the self, and society.

A Natural History of Empty Lots is a genre-defying work of nature writing, literary nonfiction, and memoir that explores what happens when nature and the city intersect. 

During the real estate crash of the late 2000s, Christopher Brown purchased an empty lot in an industrial section of Austin, Texas. The property—abandoned and full of litter and debris—was an unlikely site for a home. Brown had become fascinated with these empty lots around Austin, so-called “ruined” spaces once used for agriculture and industry awaiting their redevelopment. He discovered them to be teeming with natural activity, and embarked on a twenty-year project to live in and document such spaces. There, in our most damaged landscapes, he witnessed the remarkable resilience of wild nature, and how we can heal ourselves by healing the Earth. 

Beautifully written and philosophically hard-hitting, A Natural History of Empty Lots offers a new lens on human disruption and nature, offering a sense of hope among the edgelands. 

About Christopher Brown

Christopher Brown’s debut novel Tropic of Kansas was a finalist for the Campbell Award for best science fiction novel of 2018, and he was a World Fantasy Award nominee for the anthology Three Messages and a Warning. His short fiction and criticism has appeared in a variety of magazines and anthologies, including MIT Technology Review, LitHub, Tor.com and The Baffler. He lives in Austin, Texas, where he also practices law.


Reviews

Goodreads review by Nathan on October 14, 2024

I love how creative and insightful this is, and more books and writers should absolutely take inspiration from this, but it’s too wordy. It’s one of the few books I’ve been really upset that I didn’t fall in love with it, but I’m sure some people will.......more

Goodreads review by David on August 21, 2024

I would highly recommend this book to anyone who lives in a city but yearns for the country, or thinks that somehow people have removed themselves from nature and into an unnatural world. The natural world is in you and around you, just waiting for you to notice and connect, and the masterful writin......more

Goodreads review by Nancy on September 26, 2024

I live in a suburban sprawl. People keep their grass nice and streets are lined with parked cars. And yet, we have seen skunk, raccoon, opossum, deer, turkey, vultures, hawks, Red-winged Blackbirds, Canada geese, Mallard duck, Killdeer, a multitude of bird species, and rabbits, along with the expect......more

Goodreads review by Mackenzie on January 29, 2025

More memoir than explicit action steps but provides inspiration to rewild yourself. Also, do yourself a favor and look up this man’s house because it’s beautiful.......more

Goodreads review by Ryan on January 29, 2025

RTC......more


Quotes

"A loving, deeply pleasurable, and sprawling investigation of place, community, personal history, and larger contexts. A Natural History of Empty Lots has the shape and liveliness of something organic, as if it has grown out of the neglected, teeming hidden places of the landscape Brown knows so well. An incredible book." 
 —Kelly Link, Pulitzer finalist, MacArthur Fellow, and award-winning author of The Book of Love

"A Natural History of Empty Lots is the best and most interesting book I’ve ever read about the spaces we often overlook. Christopher Brown comes to these places with a deep curiosity and understanding of both human and nonhuman history. An instant classic."
 —Jeff VanderMeer, New York Times bestselling author

"Too often, what we call ‘nature writing’ is nostalgic for what never was. Thank goodness for Christopher Brown, who sees the wonder in what is and what might be. A Natural History of Empty Lots is the nature writing we need now."
 —Michelle Nijhuis, author of Beloved Beasts: Fighting for Life in an Age of Extinction

“Instantly hypnotic, A Natural History of Empty Lots invites you to see the ‘waste’ spaces of the Anthropocene for what they are: a resource that contains more than itself. Christopher Brown is a complete and literate denizen of these zones. His calm, clever writing shows a real care for the natural world, and a real feel for the deep worth of the brownfield liminal.”
 —M. John Harrison, Goldsmiths Prize-winning author of Wish I Was Here and Climbers