My Life in Sea Creatures: A young queer science writer’s reflections on identity and the ocean

Product Information

Sabrina Imbler writes with i ncredible curiosity, compassion, and wit. This is a book that asks us to care not simply for one another, but for creatures far distant from us-for the sea, the land, and the worlds we make together JESSICA J. LEE, author of Two Trees Make A Forest

I would be interested in either of these versions of How Far the Light Reaches, if the two had been separated: the memoir or the science. Imbler’s writing on marine biology is accessible and fascinating, so while it’s not my usual genre, I was completely pulled in. By braiding these two threads together, though, it’s more than the sum of its parts.

A young queer science writer on some of the ocean's strangest creatures and what they can teach us about human empathy and survival A beautiful lure that caught me; the lush colors of the cover, the temptation of sea creatures, explorations of identity. Overall, it was an interesting collection of pieces that interested and occasionally challenged me. I can be honest enough to say that Sy Montgomery and her attempts to do something similar drives me bonkers, perhaps because I've had my fill of straight, white, middle-class women. Intersectionality and grey areas are everything. The writing is lovely; the science is usually--but not always--cleverly integrated, the perspective interesting, though occasionally so very developmentally young. I'd love to read more about what Imbler does with their life in twenty years. Us Everlasting: immortal jellyfish actually revert to polyp stage ('ontogeny reversal'). This piece attempts some more poetic license, using second person narrative at times, as well as talking about different lives. "Its immortality is active. It is constantly aging in both directions, always reinventing itself." We Swarm: Riis Beach, New York: famous for queer culture, there was a time they were there during an inundation of blobby creatures, perhaps salps. Salps periodically swarm for food, unlike Pride in NYC, which is for a variety of reasons. This is a fun piece, a delightful break from the emotional challenge of 'Striker,' or the intellectual challenge of 'Hybrid.'

Each essay in their debut collection profiles one such creature: the mother octopus who starves herself while watching over her eggs, the Chinese sturgeon whose migration route has been decimated by pollution and dams, the bizarre Bobbitt worm (named after Lorena) and other uncanny creatures lurking in the deep ocean, far below where the light reaches. Imbler's debut weaves the wonders of marine biology with stories of their own family and coming of age, implicitly connecting endangered sea life to marginalised human communities and asking how they and we adapt, survive and care for each other.Imbler, a science journalist, shines a light on some of the ocean's most delightful and overlooked creatures...Along the way, the author draws connections between these fascinating animals and our own needs and desires - for safety, family and more New York Times These giant fish survived the asteroid and the Ice Age and so much more only to be wiped out by cosmically puny obstacles: our dams, our boats, our chemicals, our taste for caviar.” As someone who has had the luxury of taking their identity for granted, it was the exposing authenticity of Imbler’s personal journey that gripped me most. The descriptions of their fluctuating sense of gender, their desire to transform their body and the joy of finding their queer family were lyrical and profound.