World Made by Hand
Although it’s been out for a little whi
le now, I’ve only just stumbled across and read James Howard Kunstler’s novel World Made by Hand, after it was recommended by a visitor to this website. Kunstler wrote The Long Emergency: Surviving the Converging Catastrophes of the 21st Century, an analysis of the likely societal effects as we reach depletion of fossil fuels, and has been thinking long and hard about the challenges of a post-oil future.
‘World Made by Hand’ is the first book in a series of novels set in a post-apocalyptic world, beginning an unspecified number of decades after collapse. The majority of humanity has succumbed to a combo-whammy of terrorist nuclear bombs devastating major US cities, global pandemics, resource wars and climate change. Small surviving communities have regressed to simpler means, living off locally-grown food and relearning skills of self-sufficiency and home production – the central character was once a business executive but now plies his trade as a carpenter.
There is a rich and satisfying seam of sci-fi novels whose core themes overlap with those of 
Post-apocalyptic fiction is a very popular genre, and there are a number of dedicated post apocalyptic book clubs around the world. These are very friendly and informal gatherings, often occurring monthly, where you can discuss what you think about different novels over a drink with new friends. Here is a list of the ones I’m aware of – please do add others you know about to the