Ecotopia: A Novel [Paperback]

A novel both timely and prophetic, Ernest Callenbach’sEcotopiais a hopeful antidote to the environmental concerns of today, set in an ecologically sound future society. Hailed by theLos Angeles Timesas the “newest name after Wells, Verne, Huxley, and Orwell,” Callenbach offers a visionary blueprint for the survival of our planet . . . and our future.

Ecotopia was founded when northern California, Oregon, and Washington seceded from the Union to create a “stable-state” ecosystem: the perfect balance between human beings and the environment. Now, twenty years later, this isolated, mysterious nation is welcoming its first officially sanctioned American visitor:New York Times-Postreporter Will Weston.

Skeptical yet curious about this green new world, Weston is determined to report his findings objectively. But from the start, he’s alternately impressed and unsettled by the laws governing Ecotopia’s earth-friendly agenda: energy-efficient “mini-cities” to eliminate urban sprawl, zero-tolerance pollution control, tree worship, ritual war games, and a woman-dominated government that has instituted such peaceful revolutions as the twenty-hour workweek and employee ownership of farms and businesses. His old beliefs challenged, his cynicism replaced by hope, Weston meets a sexually forthright Ecotopian woman and undertakes a relationship whose intensity will lead him to a critical choice between two worlds.

"A classic of earth consciousness." —Denis Hayes, original coordinator of Earth Day

"Essential reading for all who care about the earth's future."—Fritjof Capra, author ofThe Tao of PhysicsandThe Turning Point

"None of the happy conditions inEcotopiaare beyond the technical or resource reach of our society."—Ralph NaderErnest Callenbach is also the author ofEcotopia Emerging, The l–