A timely, readable inquiry into the causes and consequences of climate breakdown Some heavy reading on the ecological and climate emergency leads Cédric, a 40-something painter living in Paris, to question his life choices. In a state of vulnerability, racked with eco-anxiety, he is contacted by the spirit of writer, environmentalist, and Walden author Henry David Thoreau. As their Socratic dialogue continues, Cédric notices striking parallels between the suffocating commercialism of mid-19th-century America and the unsustainable, alienating, tech-driven consumerism of today. Both societies are shaped by a single priority—economic growth—that squanders the earth’s natural resources and separates us from nature. Inspired by Thoreau’s return to nature, Cédric begins dreaming of his own retreat from urban life to a self-sufficient cabin in the woods.