by Ernest Gallenbach, $16.50

ECOTOPIA is a reprint of a 1975 release and is, perhaps, an even more essential read at this time of both earth consciousness and general planetary degradation.

The novel is about ‘Ecotopia’, a new country which was founded when northern California,Oregon and Washington State seceded from the rest of the United States. The narrator is a top international affairs reporter who has been sent to Ecotopia by his newspaper, The Times Post.

This is a significant development because he is the first American to visit since secession cut off normal travel and communications.

While seeking to understand Ecotopia the reporter,William Weston, finds himself personally unsettled and challenged by various aspects of this new country such as a twenty hour work week, energy conservation and self-reliance, extremely unregulated schooling, shelter and clothing constructed of recycled material, hunting for food,controlled merchandise in stores, ritual war games, men and women sharing equal work, and women in control of their lives. By reflecting what Weston observes through both his public newspaper articles and his private diary entries, the reader is invited into his transformation from scepticism to support.

This book gives an intriguing outlook into an ecological lifestyle and, given that it is completely relevant to issues of 2009, it is fascinating to think that this book was published in 1975. A good read for all concerned with an environmental lifestyle and some choices, like William Weston, we might all have to consider.

The next book for the P’lovers Book Club is Solitude by Robert Kull – October 15th.