I've had this book for what feels like years - picked up in a charity shop because it sounded like a fascinating subject. What would become of the world if Man pissed off tomorrow?
And to be fair to Alan Weisman, this isn't idle speculation doodled on a beer mat one Tuesday afternoon. Oh no. He's spoken to people and researched stuff.
And it is a fascinating book.
It's also bloody depressing.
Which isn't a criticism of Weisman's writing, but a reflection on the damage we have already done to this planet and the damage that will continue to unfold long after we're gone.
I am genuinely concerned that whatever evolves after we're wiped out will think we were nothing but a race of small, sexless, shiny pink folk who had no facial expressions and nylon hair - because Barbie and Ken will still be being dug up long after the next ice age.
But the book hits the buffers quite early on as points are laboured.
Yes, I want to know that tyres will still be around long after the car is gone. I care slightly less about how vulcanised rubber came to be. And yet, I get told.
Somewhere around farming and how it changed us all from hunters to lazy doowackies who had lots of leisure time because Bernard was growing cowses, you lose the will to live.
I cheated and skipped to the final chapter.
This is an important book with a vital message. It just needs telling more succinctly.