Featuring an indelible cast of heroes and villains, mavericks and swindlers, “The Parrot and the Igloo” delivers a real-life tragicomedy—one that captures the extraordinary dance of science, money, and the American character.

Journalist David Lipsky’s new book is a project of maximum ambition, Zoe Schlanger says in a review for The New York Times.

“In the preface, Lipsky admits he thought about opening it with a threatening line: ‘This story put a hole through my life. Now it’s your turn.’ You can see why. Reading it is like watching a car crash in slow motion. You know where this is headed,” says Schlanger.

Lipsky retells the entire climate story, from the dawn of electricity to the dire straits of our present day. It’s well-trod ground, but Lipsky — a newcomer to the climate field — makes it page turning and appropriately infuriating. He says it up front: He wants this to be like a Netflix series, bingeable, says the review.

Lipsky’s writing style makes this a more pleasant read, for what can often be a really grim topic. 

Lipsky acknowledges that “The Parrot and the Igloo” draws heavily from a handful of landmark climate books, including Naomi Oreskes and Erik Conway’s “Merchants of Doubt” and Elizabeth Kolbert’s “Field Notes From a Catastrophe.”