OUTER SPACE IS CLOSER THAN ANTARCTICA: And Other Things I Learned While Falling in Love at the Bottom of the World
MICHELLE OTT
Chronicle Books (non-affiliate Bookshop.org link)
$19.95 hardcover, $15.99 ebook, available now
Rating: 4.5* of five
The Publisher Says: This beautifully illustrated memoir tells artist Michelle Ott’s true story of falling in love and discovering her place in the universe on a remote research station in Antarctica.
In 2004, feeling burned out and dissatisfied, Michelle Ott left her high-profile gallery job in New York to work as a janitor at McMurdo Station in Antarctica: the coldest, windiest, driest place on Earth. There, she fell in love—not only with her future partner, but with the raw, inhospitable, incomparable beauty of the continent itself.
She took trips to nowhere on the Antarctic ice and mapped out the most romantic date locations on a remote research base where the sun never sets.
She witnessed the bright green aurora australis at -30°F, cried in response to its beauty, and found her eyes frozen shut by her tears.
She learned about (literally) breathtaking katabatic winds, ventifacts, and what it was like to bake cookies for 1000.
She dropped a piece of glacier ice into a glass of booze and consumed the ancient air bubbles that were trapped within it.
In this emotional blend of art, science, and deeply personal stories, Ott shares the wisdom and wonder gleaned from her four trips to the southernmost continent. Complete with hand-drawn maps and diagrams, accessible scientific explanations, and the realizations that can only come from turning your life upside down, Outer Space Is Closer Than Antarctica is an ode to explorers and dreamers, scientists and artists, and anyone curious enough to brave the unknown.
FOR THE EXPLORER AND THE DREAMER: Who hasn't fantasized about quitting their job, leaving city life behind, and running away to the wilderness? We might not all choose Antarctica as our dream destination, but Michelle Ott's brave, open-hearted approach to life still speaks to that nagging impulse to flip your world upside down. Her story of finding friendship, love, and an appreciation for life's simplest joys reminds us that sometimes that impulse is worth acting on.
ART + SCIENCE: This well-researched memoir presents scientific principles and research in an engaging combination of art and prose. Learn about volcanoes, stardust, Katabatic winds, the polar vortex, ventifacts, glaciers, and other Antarctic phenomena through Ott’s illustrations, maps, diagrams, and descriptions.
THE WONDER OF ANTARCTICA: Antarctica is a place of superlatives—driest, highest, coldest, windiest, biggest—and extremes. Its closest continental neighbor is 774 miles away. The Kármán line, the boundary between Earth’s atmosphere and outer space, is only 62 miles above sea level. When you are standing on any other landmass on Earth, you are nearer to outer space than to Antarctica. Science enthusiasts, creative thinkers, and armchair travelers will all find something to relish in this remarkable volume.
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My Review: I felt curiously removed from this memoir; because it is very much a vibes book about a very rigidly regimented world, it came across as curiously...out of phase for me.
It sounded great to Author Ott, too. Off she went to have an adventure, to reassess her life, to shake things up. It worked...she met her partner there, she got to introspect in a way not really possible in the midst of life as we live it. Along the way she became a real professional at cookie-baking, becoming slightly overaware (at least for my taste) of how important round cookies are as morale boosters...bar shaped tray bakes are not as...personal...apparently. I've never been as isolated, as regimented (like being imprisoned) as she has in Antarctica.
The balancing of desires versus requirements as shown above is something I feel provides the very best clue to this book's ideal giftee: A young person, obviously most important for a young woman, who is about to launch a course of study leading to a career, launch the career itself, or who is stuck in unfulfilling circumustances. Many of us are, at all stages of life; the book ill work its encouraging magic on all ages. I think it will offer a lot to a younger person who's not sure about a STEM career.
It's clear that no one who fancies extreme experiences shouls pass this experiential memoir by. I think your experience of the art will be superior in a tree book format, though the ebook is by no meeans a poor choice...if you have a good tablet to read it on.
The way of the world *can* give you what you need. It's a lovely and powerful message. It all comes down to taking action, taking responsibility, accepting risk...all those things that an extreme environment like Antarctica requires of you. Since most of us can't emulate her geographical journey, reading about it and learning from the act of reading is a good second-best lesson.
