Jim Kunstler is author of one of the best books about Peak Oil, and he has now written a novel set in the near future in Upper New York State – that is, a future after Peak Oil has come and gone. It’s an interesting enough book but I was always conscious of some sermonising in the background. Which, as I mostly agreed with it, I could allow just to flow through. However, it did confirm for me that my prognosis is much more optimistic than Kunstler’s. For example, I found it more than strange that there was never any reference to renewable sources of energy, especially wind and solar; also that nobody rode bicycles. I found those elements quite implausible. However, it’s a good book, and one I’d be happy to recommend to people persuaded of the analytical side of Peak Oil who wanted to explore the possible effects socially in an imaginative way.