Dust

Reviews / Votes

'Like a detective dusting for fingerprints, Jay Owens masterfully reveals the hidden traces of modernity by following some of its smallest fragments. Dust is a hugely original and engrossing history. It's a book that captures our current age - its diffusion, its wonder, and its terror - as well as tracing its future fall-out, both literal and symbolic. - James Vincent, author of Beyond Measure 'Owens's pursuit of dust - defined very broadly as particles of a certain size, however generated - sends her tripping through many fascinating and rewarding realms . . . She's a superb travel writer, delivering with aplomb on her own idea of what geographers should be doing: Paying attention to tangible, material realities to ground our theoretical models in the world.' - Telegraph 'A profoundly original examination of our damaged, eternally connected world. There are ideas here I will carry with me for my whole life, having breathed them in with these pages as surely as we breathe the book's titular substance in with every living moment.' - Ray Nayler, author of The Mountain in the Sea 'Brilliant . . . Owens is a serious writer: impassioned but intelligent, powerful but subtle ... [a] first-class writer and deep-thinking environmentalist. This book is original and exciting.' Sunday Times 'Food for thought wrapped up nicely in a highly absorbing book.' Buzz Magazine 'Some of the most powerful narratives in the book centre on dried lake beds . . . The author tells the story beautifully, weaving together the strands of environmental justice, water rights and public health . . . a broad and insightful picture of how tiny partices influence our environment, our health and our relationship with the world around us.' Nature 'Owens's prose is often lyrical and her wide-ranging analysis highlights dust's overlooked historical significance . . . a competent and persuasive study of the big impact of small particles.' -- Publishers Weekly 'A fascinating and expansive examination of the causes of dust and its effect on people . . . Owens' writing is moving and persuasive, revealing passion about the subject . . . Readers will be fascinated by what enormous insights Owens conveys by thoughtfully examining something as tiny as a dust particle.' -- Bookist 'Who knew dust could be so exciting? Here it undergoes a thorough rebrand to elevate it from mildly annoying irritant to mind-blowing magic trick, global network and latest candidate for eventual downfall of our species.' -- Strong Words 'Owens's prose is often lyrical and her wide-ranging analysis highlights dust's overlooked historical significance . . . a competent and persuasive study of the big impact of small particles.' -Publishers Weekly The result is an original and illuminating book in which Owens takes something apparently insignificant and uses it to expose the terrible consequences of our exploitation of the natural world. - Times Literary Supplement