The Evolution of Fire - by Angela Pelster (Paperback)

About the Book

"A collection of essays in which the author tempers humanity's ancient capacity for evolution against her own tipping points and impossible decisions"-- Provided by publisher.

Book Synopsis

"The Evolution of Fire is stunningly written--vivid in imagery, in the braiding together of language, and in the honoring of every person it shines a light on."--Hanif Abdurraqib, author of There's Always This Year

From the celebrated author of Limber, a luminous collection of essays about crisis, hope, and the decision to resist or embrace evolution--a book about time, for our time.

Crisis is an agent of evolution, and Angela Pelster knows what it means to evolve. As a child, she burned grass to keep weeds at bay and watched tadpoles transform. She basked in the warmth of her father's love but was burned by his rage, and she witnessed a sudden, unnamable change occur in her older sister after an encounter with a stranger in a white van. In adulthood, she survived the explosion of her marriage, the destruction of her burning home, and a year spent as the single mother of a toddler without a home of their own. And like us all, she has weathered the upheaval of our current atmosphere--political instability, climate change, mass extinction.

But in spite of the world's violence, Pelster manages to remain open to its beauty, deciding not to resist change, but to give herself over to it and let evolution make her into a new animal. She plumbs the depths of ancestral knowledge to uncover the scale of our ancient capacity for adaptation, from humankind's early harnessing of fire to the grandmothers responsible for our continued existence.

Meditative and curious, pulsing with fascination, fear, and the untamable human spirit, The Evolution of Fire contemplates who we are now and what we still might become.

Review Quotes

"The Evolution of Fire is stunningly written--vivid in imagery, in the braiding together of language, and in the honoring of every person it shines a light on. But, beyond that, I found the gift of this book to be in its rich self-awareness, its patience with every movement, and especially its care for the self."--Hanif Abdurraqib, author of There's Always This Year

"I read The Evolution of Fire in a near breathless fugue, utterly under the spell of Angela Pelster's lyrical, wise reflections on how a body and mind are shaped by crisis. Though perfect for fans of Jo Ann Beard and Rebecca Solnit, this book is entirely its own--a memoir-in-essays that made me rethink not only how personal stories can be told, but the stories I tell about my own life."--Erica Berry, author of Wolfish

"This book is breathtakingly great--with blazing lyricism and controlled precision, Angela Pelster's examinations spread from a father's 'white-hot' rage to a house fire to a planet on fire, yet she remains tenderhearted, 'so grateful to have been here and to be here still.' The Evolution of Fire also contains playfulness, humor, and so much love. She even fit a fable inside--an unusual choice for a memoir-in-essays, yet here it feels necessary. Pelster is brilliant, one of the most versatile nonfiction writers working today."--Jeannie Vanasco, author of A Silent Treatment

"Angela Pelster is a writer as wise as she is miraculous. In The Evolution of Fire, she teaches us what it means to lose and to suffer, to watch flames ravaging everything and yet to remain, as she phrases it, tenderhearted--open to this world, despite its violence. This book that made me weep, made me shiver in fear, but it also made me laugh with delight. It is a book about time and a book for this time."--Sarah Viren, author of To Name the Bigger Lie

"Angela Pelster has given us a book as tender as it is precise, generous in its observations about the natural world, our shared and fractured histories, and the ways in which those who are meant to care for us best can also do the most harm. The Evolution of Fire is a map for how we might love one another, this planet, and ourselves with more kindness and grace. It's also just very beautiful."--Kristen Radtke, author of Seek You

"At once contemplative and urgent, The Evolution of Fire snakes through personal, national, and ecological crises, offering new ways of remembering our ancient capacities for care and survival. This book feels like the opposite of doomscrolling--every sentence is lush, simmering, resilient."--Sonya Bilocerkowycz, author of On Our Way Home from the Revolution

"Searing. Angela Pelster takes us back in time, deep within our most private selves, and to the precipice of everything that matters. In intense flashes and slow burns, these urgent, lyric, searching essays chronicle a life, a planet, and the mechanisms of becoming. I am shaken. This book has changed the way I think of crisis--and where we stand now."--A. Kendra Greene, author of No Less Strange or Wonderful

About the Author

Angela Pelster is the author of the essay collection Limber, a winner of the Great Lakes Colleges Association Award for nonfiction. She was a 2021 McKnight Artist Fellow chosen by Hanif Abdurraqib. Her writing has appeared in LitHub, Orion, Ploughshares, Tin House, Granta, The Kenyon Review, and The Gettysburg Review, among others. She's been a Katherine Bakeless Nason Bread Loaf Fellow in nonfiction, a Minnesota State Arts Board grantee, and was an Iowa Arts fellow during her MFA at the University of Iowa. She currently teaches at Hamline University and lives in St. Paul, Minnesota.