{"product_id":"the-last-man-9780143137900","title":"The Last Man","description":"\u003cb\u003eMary Shelley's landmark novel that invented the human extinction genre and initiated climate fiction, imagining a world where newly-forged communities and reverence for nature rises from the ashes of a pandemic-ravaged society, now for the first time in Penguin Classics, with a foreword by Rebecca Solnit \u003c\/b\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003eA Penguin Classic \u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003eWritten while Mary Shelley was in a self-imposed lockdown after the loss of her husband and children, and in the wake of intersecting crises including the climate-changing Mount Tambora eruption and a raging cholera outbreak, \u003ci\u003eThe Last Man\u003c\/i\u003e (1826) is the first end-of-mankind novel, an early work of climate fiction, and a prophetic depiction of environmental change. Set in the late twenty-first century, the book tells of a deadly pandemic that leaves a lone survivor, and follows his journey through a post-apocalyptic world that's devoid of humanity and reclaimed by nature. But rather than give in to despair, Shelley uses the now-ubiquitous end-times plot to imagine a new world where freshly-formed communities and alternative ways of being stand in for self-important politicians serving corrupt institutions, and where nature reigns mightily over humanity--a timely message for our current era of climate collapse and political upheaval. Brimming with political intrigue and love triangles around characters based on Percy Shelley and scandal-dogged poet Lord Byron, the novel also broaches partisan dysfunction, imperial warfare, refugee crises, and economic collapse--and brings the legacy of her radically progressive parents, William Godwin and Mary Wollstonecraft, to bear on present-day questions about making a better world less centered around \"man.\" Shelley's second major novel after \u003ci\u003eFrankenstein\u003c\/i\u003e, \u003ci\u003eThe Last Man\u003c\/i\u003e casts a half-skeptical eye on romantic ideals of utopian perfection and natural plenitude while looking ahead to a greener future in which our species develops new relationships with non-human life and the planet.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eAuthor:\u003c\/b\u003e \u003ca href=\"https:\/\/cacorrectionsbookstore.com\/search?type=product%2Carticle%2Cpage\u0026amp;q=AUTH-16149282\"\u003eMary Shelley\u003c\/a\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003ePublisher:\u003c\/b\u003e Penguin Classics\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003ePublished:\u003c\/b\u003e 04\/09\/2024\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003ePages:\u003c\/b\u003e 512\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eBinding Type:\u003c\/b\u003e Paperback\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eWeight:\u003c\/b\u003e 0.75lbs\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eSize:\u003c\/b\u003e 7.50h x 5.00w x 1.00d\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eISBN13:\u003c\/b\u003e 9780143137900\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eISBN10:\u003c\/b\u003e 0143137905\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eBISAC Categories:\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e- \u003ca href=\"https:\/\/cacorrectionsbookstore.com\/search?type=product%2Carticle%2Cpage\u0026amp;q=CAT-FIC\"\u003eFiction\u003c\/a\u003e | \u003ca href=\"https:\/\/cacorrectionsbookstore.com\/search?type=product%2Carticle%2Cpage\u0026amp;q=BISAC-FIC004000\"\u003eClassics\u003c\/a\u003e\u003cbr\u003e- \u003ca href=\"https:\/\/cacorrectionsbookstore.com\/search?type=product%2Carticle%2Cpage\u0026amp;q=CAT-FIC\"\u003eFiction\u003c\/a\u003e | \u003ca href=\"https:\/\/cacorrectionsbookstore.com\/search?type=product%2Carticle%2Cpage\u0026amp;q=BISAC-FIC012000\"\u003eGhost\u003c\/a\u003e\u003cbr\u003e- \u003ca href=\"https:\/\/cacorrectionsbookstore.com\/search?type=product%2Carticle%2Cpage\u0026amp;q=CAT-FIC\"\u003eFiction\u003c\/a\u003e | \u003ca href=\"https:\/\/cacorrectionsbookstore.com\/search?type=product%2Carticle%2Cpage\u0026amp;q=BISAC-FIC028050\"\u003eScience Fiction | Military\u003c\/a\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003cb\u003eAbout the Author\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eMary Shelley\u003c\/b\u003e was born in London in 1797, daughter of William Godwin and Mary Wollstonecraft, famous radical writers of the day. She is the author of \u003ci\u003eFrankenstein \u003c\/i\u003e(1818), \u003ci\u003eThe Last Man\u003c\/i\u003e (1826), and other works. \u003cb\u003eJohn Havard\u003c\/b\u003e (introduction) teaches at the State University of New York, Binghamton, where his work focuses on 18th-century and Romantic literature and political culture. His essays about literature and politics have appeared in \u003ci\u003eThe New Rambler\u003c\/i\u003e, \u003ci\u003eThe Los Angeles Review of Books\u003c\/i\u003e, and \u003ci\u003ePublic Books\u003c\/i\u003e. \u003cb\u003eRebecca Solnit\u003c\/b\u003e (foreword) is the author of more than 20 books, including \u003ci\u003eOrwell's Roses\u003c\/i\u003e, \u003ci\u003eRecollections of My Nonexistence\u003c\/i\u003e, \u003ci\u003eA Field Guide to Getting Lost\u003c\/i\u003e, and \u003ci\u003eMen Explain Things to Me\u003c\/i\u003e. She is a regular contributor to \u003ci\u003eThe Guardian\u003c\/i\u003e and other publications.\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Penguin Classics","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":44380442296459,"sku":"9780143137900","price":19.0,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0626\/5100\/7115\/files\/img_85a22281-c5c8-4ee1-a533-f46cf0a267b3.jpg?v=1760544345","url":"https:\/\/cacorrectionsbookstore.com\/products\/the-last-man-9780143137900","provider":"CA Corrections Bookstore","version":"1.0","type":"link"}