{"product_id":"the-science-of-last-things-essays-on-deep-time-and-the-boundaries-of-the-self-paperback","title":"The Science of Last Things: Essays on Deep Time and the Boundaries of the Self - Paperback","description":"\u003cp\u003eby \u003cb\u003eEllen Wayland-Smith\u003c\/b\u003e (Author)\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003cb\u003e\"Offering a deeply necessary, clear-eyed look at who we are as flesh-and-bone bodies during the climate crisis, this is a book that searches and finds meaning in both the hard truths and the value of wonder.\"--Ada Lim?n\u003c\/b\u003e\u003c\/p\u003eIn this luminous collection of essays, Ellen Wayland-Smith probes the raw edges of human existence, those periods of life in which our bodies remind us of our transience and the boundaries of the self dissolve.From the Old Testament to Maggie Nelson, these explorations are grounded in a rich network of associations. In an essay on the postpartum body, Wayland-Smith interweaves her experience as a mother with accounts of phantom limbs and Greek mythology to meditate on moments when pieces of our being exist outside our bodies. In order to comprehend diagnoses of depression and breast cancer, she delves into LA hippie culture's love affair with crystals and Emily Dickinson's geological poetry. Her experience with chemotherapy leads to reflection on Western medicine and its intolerance of death and the healing capacity of nature. And throughout, she challenges the false separation between the human and the \"primeval, animal mode of being.\"At once intimate and expansive, \u003ci\u003eThe Science of Last Things \u003c\/i\u003epeels back layers of human thought and behavior, breaking down our modern conceptions of individuality and reframing us as participants in a world of astounding elegance and mystery.\u003ch3\u003eAuthor Biography\u003c\/h3\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003cb\u003eEllen Wayland-Smith\u003c\/b\u003e is the author of \u003ci\u003eOneida\u003c\/i\u003e and \u003ci\u003eThe Angel in the Marketplace\u003c\/i\u003e. Her work has appeared in \u003ci\u003eGuernica\u003c\/i\u003e, \u003ci\u003eCatapult\u003c\/i\u003e, \u003ci\u003eThe Millions\u003c\/i\u003e, \u003ci\u003eLongreads, \u003c\/i\u003e \u003ci\u003eThe American Scholar\u003c\/i\u003e, and the\u003ci\u003e Los Angeles Review of Books\u003c\/i\u003e. She teaches at the University of Southern California and lives in Los Angeles.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cdiv\u003e\n\u003cstrong\u003eNumber of Pages:\u003c\/strong\u003e 208\u003c\/div\u003e\u003cdiv\u003e\n\u003cstrong\u003eDimensions:\u003c\/strong\u003e 0.7 x 8.5 x 5.5 IN\u003c\/div\u003e\u003cdiv\u003e\n\u003cstrong\u003ePublication Date:\u003c\/strong\u003e October 15, 2024\u003c\/div\u003e","brand":"Books by splitShops","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":51758618444064,"sku":"9781639550968","price":18.0,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0974\/9764\/5344\/files\/ccb577be7781906edc9bb51c05de2c1b_ed960642-6c19-42a2-824e-5cfd199013aa.webp?v=1780130677","url":"https:\/\/ebocreations.com\/products\/the-science-of-last-things-essays-on-deep-time-and-the-boundaries-of-the-self-paperback","provider":"The E-Book Oasis LLC","version":"1.0","type":"link"}