Things That Are

“To Amy Leach’s dismay, we too often forget the past or how the world came to be as it is today. But it is not this human tendency that most concerns her. Rather, it’s the objects of this error: the neglected. In Things That Are, Leach delves into case study-like descriptions of species and planets… . Her descriptions give way to words of wisdom… . She takes on her subjects’ perspectives and in turn humanizes and elevates them.”

“Like a descendant of Lewis Carroll and Emily Dickinson, Amy Leach brings new meaning to the world without us, and within. A reader entering this book to learn more about the universe will exit knowing much more about her own self. At once large and intimate, these essays introduce one of the most exciting and original writers in America.”

“If Donald Barthelme had made nature documentaries, the commentary might have sounded like this. Lyrical and strange, this engaging book is filled with short tales whose most perfect sentences stay with you, especially in your dreams.”

“Amy Leach is one of those rare writers who fearlessly follows her muse through the maze. (She amuses, and amazes.) Some pieces read like columns for Scientific American, written by a more cheerful Kafka. Others are like books of the Old Testament, rewritten by Charles Darwin. Reading her fresh, surprising pages, you realise how often other writers bend what they wish to say out of its natural shape, to suit markets, to fit existing genres.”

“Amy Leach is nimble, precise, dynamic, witty, and metaphysical… . In her heady and astute approach to natural history, her disarming concoctions of science and fancy, she is part Diane Ackerman, part Margaret Atwood… . Leach is ecstatic in her knowledgeable, resplendent, and exhilarating contemplations of everything from subatomic particles to dust, Spinoza, donkeys, and caterpillars.”

“Writers like Leach and Solnit help me believe that the harrowing essay will not rule the day, and that writing that pays careful attention to the world and to language, tone, and metaphorical resonance can be equally powerful as and far more enduring than the personal essay with the most online shares. To love the world, to pay attention to it, to practice patience, to cultivate the habit of curiosity that is research—these can be key to developing a writerly voice that will last and that will matter.”

“For evidence that environmental writing can be anything but dry, check out Amy Leach’s genre-bending essays. These whimsical explorations of animal kingdom phenomena—exploding sea cucumbers, fainting goats, the relationship between gods and donkeys—pose important questions about our kinship with the wild world.”

“Dr. Seuss meets his match in this dazzling essay collection of all things strange and magical. With its sing-song voice and made-up words, Things That Are transports us to a colorful world that we never want to leave—until we realize, with utter delight, that we’re already living in it. Leach contemplates the tiniest earthly dwellers to the vast cosmos. She spins and reorders the world, taking the reader on the silliest of rides, orchestrating language like a mad conductor.”