A TIME Best Nonfiction Book of the 2022 A PEOPLE Best New Book A Barnes & Noble, WIRED , and SHELF AWARENESS Best Book of 2022 An Indie Next Pick One of Winter’s Most Eagerly Anticipated Books: NEW YORK TIMES, VANITY FAIR, VULTURE, BOOKRIOT “Compulsively readable, beautifully lyric, and wildly tender, How Far the Light Reaches asks the reader to sink down, slip beneath, swim forward with outstretched hands, trusting that Sabrina Imbler is there to guide us through the dark. It presents the body as one that might morph and grow in any number of directions. How do we see ourselves? Can we learn to unsee? A breathtaking, mesmerizing debut from a tremendous talent.”—KRISTEN ARNETT, NYT bestselling author of With Teeth “This is a miraculous, transcendental book. Across these essays, Imbler has choreographed a dance of metaphor between the wonders of the ocean’s creatures and the poignancy of human experience, each enriching the other in surprising and profound ways. To write with such grace, skill, and wisdom would be impressive enough; to have done so in their first major work is truly breathtaking. Sabrina Imbler is a generational talent, and this book is a gift to us all.”—ED YONG, New York Times Bestselling author of An Immense World “How Far the Light Reaches marks the arrival of a phenomenal writer creating an intellectual channel entirely their own, within which whales and feral goldfish swim by the enchantment, ache, and ecstasy of human life.”—MEGHA MAJUMDAR, New York Times bestselling author of A Burning “How Far the Light Reaches draws startling, moving connections between the lives of sea creatures and our existence on solid ground; between the vast depths of the ocean and the similarly mysterious expanse of inner experience. Working at the nexus of nature writing and memoir, Sabrina Imbler is beautifully reinventing both genres." —ANGELA CHEN, author of Ace “How Far the Light Reaches is a creature unlike any other—one that grips you with its tentacles and pulls you down into new depths. It is impossible to read this book and not be transformed.”—RACHEL E. GROSS, author of Vagina Obscura "A pinwheel of awe spinning one 'wow' after another."—SOUVANKHAM THAMMAVONGSA, author of How to Pronounce Knife “Sabrina Imbler’s glittering prose is as supple as an octopus, and their subject matter—whether writing about sea creatures or their own shape-shifting soul—as elemental as the ocean itself. And like the sea, How Far the Light Reaches is profound, surprising, and thrillingly strange. I love it."—SY MONTGOMERY, New York Times bestselling author of How To be A Good Creature: A Memoir in 13 Animals and The Soul of an Octopus "How Far the Light Reaches is a bright, shimmering gift of a book that deftly glides and weaves, exploring sea life and the self with boundless curiosity, tenderness, and wisdom. Sabrina Imbler can break your heart while opening it to new wonders—their writing is as precise as it is lyrical, and will not leave you unchanged. Every essay in this brilliant debut collection deserves to be treasured."—NICOLE CHUNG, author of All You Can Ever Know
"How Far The Light Reaches is an incandescent and provocative exploration of worlds we often do not see, rendered with the utmost tenderness and care. Deftly merging reporting and memoir, Sabrina Imbler forges connections between our imperfect human lives and the depths of the ocean, providing a new framework that will forever change how we understand the world around us."
—KAT CHOW, author of Seeing Ghosts "In this captivating debut, science writer Imbler shines a light on the mysterious sea creatures that live in Earth’s most inhospitable reaches, drawing parallels to their own experience of adaptation and survival...Imbler’s ability to balance illuminating science journalism with candid personal revelation is impressive, and the mesmerizing glints of lyricism are a treat. This intimate deep dive will leave readers eager to see where Imbler goes next."—Publishers Weekly “Imbler pulls off an impressive feat: a book about the majestic, bewildering undersea world that also happens to be deeply human.”—Lisa Wong Macabasco , VOGUE, Best Books of Fall “Imbler blends personal history with the most fascinating writing on sea creatures living in remote and deep areas of the ocean. Metaphors abound around family, community, queerness, and survival; this book is another jewel in the crown of Imbler’s incredible work.”—Sarah Neilson , THEM, Most Anticipated LGBTQ+ Books for Fall "A luminous interweaving of the human and the non-human, My Life in Sea Creatures is an ingenious book that shows, with a glittering skill, how the precious life around us enriches our world and our ways of living. This is nature writing with an open and daring heart."—SEÁN HEWITT, poet and author of All Down Darkness Wide. “…much more than an account of deep-sea creatures…Imbler compellingly examines the parallels between the lives and priorities of people and aquatic animals…unique and engaging…the overall effect is heartening and encourages a reexamination of inherited ideas about family, community, and identity…Elegant, thought-provoking comparisons between aspects of identity and the trials of deep-sea creatures.”—Kirkus Reviews "A tender, lucid look at the author’s life refracted through the deep sea. Imbler’s essays’ mesmerizing descriptions of the often mysterious lives of aquatic animals also serve as portals of inquiry into their life on land. The purple octopus’s maternal sacrifice, the yeti crab’s vibrant but transient seafloor communities and the cuttlefish’s continual transformations are not forced anthropomorphic metaphors but starting points for a visceral exploration of Imbler’s family, sexuality, gender, race and relationships. These graceful cross-species analyses illuminate the joys and responsibilities we have as ‘creatures with a complex brain."—Dana Dunham , SCIENTIFIC AMERICAN "How Far the Light Reaches is a truly unique collection of essays about ocean life as it pertains to the author’s own story."—Ashley Holstrom , BOOK RIOT "Imbler's insightful blend of marine biology and memoir is utterly captivating and complexly elucidating."—Donna Seaman , BOOKLIST “What would happen if art, whose main purpose is to make us feel, again merged with science?...with brutal candor and elegant metaphor, How Far the Light Reaches reveals the gap between where we are today and a truly inclusive and connected world. In so doing, [the book] also threads the loophole, weaving the outlines of a future where art and science amplify one other.”—Juli Berwald , SCIENCE MAGAZINE “The minute I saw Sabrina Imbler’s byline, I was hooked."—Maya Homan , THE BOSTON GLOBE “In gorgeous, lyrical prose, science journalist Sabrina Imbler interweaves fascinating research on sea creatures with their own deeply personal evolution as a queer mixed-race person struggling with assimilation, gender identity, family dynamics and where they fit within a largely homogenous society.”—GOOD HOUSEKEEPING "Imbler, a science journalist, shines a light on some of the ocean’s most delightful and overlooked creatures: goldfish that flourish in the wild, an aquatic worm named after Lorena Bobbitt, octopus mothers that make sacrifices for their offspring. Along the way, the author draws connections between these fascinating animals and our own needs and desires — for safety, family and more." —Joumana Khatib , NEW YORK TIMES, Most Anticipated Books of December “I found both solace and hope in Imbler’s ability to portray a world so foreign it’s barely legible to humans, and to bring forth the myriad ways of being that we might draw on to imagine our way forward through the depths.”—Ilana Masad , WASHINGTON POST “Imbler thoughtfully examines connections between science and humanity, tying together what should be very loose threads in 10 dazzling essays, each a study of a different sea creature…Throughout, Imbler reveals the surprising ways that sea creatures can teach us about family, sexuality, and survival.”—Annabel Gutterman , TIME, 10 Best Nonfiction Books of the Year "Imbler uses their fascination with deep sea creatures to enlighten readers about these mysterious crabs, worms, fish and other organisms but also to encourage us to radically reimagine our own families, ways and lives."—Karla J. Strand , MS. MAGAZINE "[The book] meditates radiantly on the ragged ways we adapt to the world around us, probing the lives of marine animals for strategies for our own survival. Imbler’s first-rate science writing glistens with the same sheen as the best of Oliver Sacks’ essays."—Henry L. Carrigan, Jr. , BOOKPAGE, Starred Review "Tender and candid...a poignant invitation into the depths of ocean life and a call to consider what nature can reveal about the human condition from a brilliant and poetic writer."—Kerry McHugh , SHELF AWARENESS, Starred Review "At turns poignant and hilarious, these essays reveal the fascinating, often mysterious lives of sea creatures, from yeti crabs to whales, to interrogate fundamental ideas about what it means to be human."—Maya L. Kapoor , UNDARK MAGAZINE
★ 08/29/2022
In this captivating debut, science writer Imbler shines a light on the mysterious sea creatures that live in Earth’s most inhospitable reaches, drawing parallels to their own experience of adaptation and survival. In “My Mother and the Starving Octopus,” Imbler describes octopus brooding—a process during which a female starves and withers to death while protecting her eggs—and uses it as a poignant launching point to delve into the ramifications of their mother’s disordered relationship with food. In “Pure Life,” Imbler considers the yeti crab, marveling at how it survives atop hydrothermal vents, little islands of heat on the ocean floor, and recounts their own experience craving closeness: “I wanted communities that warmed me until I tingled.” Science, race, and the act of writing are at the core of the deeply personal “Hybrids,” in which Imbler describes their fixation on a butterflyfish that was the offspring of two different species and dissects their changing experience writing about race. Imbler’s ability to balance illuminating science journalism with candid personal revelation is impressive, and the mesmerizing glints of lyricism are a treat. This intimate deep dive will leave readers eager to see where Imbler goes next. (Dec.)
How Far the Light Reaches is a creature unlike any other—one that grips you with its tentacles and pulls you down into new depths. It is impossible to read this book and not be transformed.
author of Vagina Obscura RACHEL E. GROSS
This is a miraculous, transcendental book. Across these essays, Imbler has choreographed a dance of metaphor between the wonders of the ocean’s creatures and the poignancy of human experience, each enriching the other in surprising and profound ways. To write with such grace, skill, and wisdom would be impressive enough; to have done so in their first major work is truly breathtaking. Sabrina Imbler is a generational talent, and this book is a gift to us all.
A pinwheel of awe spinning one 'wow' after another.
author of How to Pronounce Knife SOUVANKHAM THAMMAVONGSA
Compulsively readable, beautifully lyric, and wildly tender, How Far the Light Reaches asks the reader to sink down, slip beneath, swim forward with outstretched hands, trusting that Sabrina Imbler is there to guide us through the dark. It presents the body as one that might morph and grow in any number of directions. How do we see ourselves? Can we learn to unsee? A breathtaking, mesmerizing debut from a tremendous talent.
NYT bestselling author of With Teeth KRISTEN ARNETT
“How Far the Light Reaches marks the arrival of a phenomenal writer creating an intellectual channel entirely their own, within which whales and feral goldfish swim by the enchantment, ache, and ecstasy of human life.
New York Times bestselling author of A Burning MEGHA MAJUMDAR
This is a miraculous, transcendental book. Across these essays, Imbler has choreographed a dance of metaphor between the wonders of the ocean’s creatures and the poignancy of human experience, each enriching the other in surprising and profound ways. To write with such grace, skill, and wisdom would be impressive enough; to have done so in their first major work is truly breathtaking. Sabrina Imbler is a generational talent, and this book is a gift to us all.
New York Times Bestselling author of I Contain Mul ED YONG
07/01/2022
Revealing the glories of marine life through 10 distinctive creatures, like the mother octopus who starves herself while tending her eggs, science writer Imbler then reveals their own experiences as a queer, biracial author to connect these often endangered sea creatures to marginalized human communities.
Science journalist Sabrina Imbler narrates their own work, exploring the lives of deep-sea creatures and drawing parallels to their own experiences as a queer, biracial person seeking a community of their own. Imbler invites listeners to share in their fascination as they describe 10 unique sea creatures—from yeti crabs, who live precariously on hydrothermal vents, to the mother octopus who starved for 53 months while protecting her eggs. Imbler draws piercing and sometimes painful connections to their own life, describing their experiences with disordered eating, sexual assault, racism, and homophobia. While some of the creatures Imbler describes may seem bizarre—translucent orb-like salps, feral goldfish that grow to menacing proportions—their heartfelt narration ensures that listeners will recognize the beauty in them all. S.A.H. © AudioFile 2022, Portland, Maine
DECEMBER 2022 - AudioFile
Science journalist Sabrina Imbler narrates their own work, exploring the lives of deep-sea creatures and drawing parallels to their own experiences as a queer, biracial person seeking a community of their own. Imbler invites listeners to share in their fascination as they describe 10 unique sea creatures—from yeti crabs, who live precariously on hydrothermal vents, to the mother octopus who starved for 53 months while protecting her eggs. Imbler draws piercing and sometimes painful connections to their own life, describing their experiences with disordered eating, sexual assault, racism, and homophobia. While some of the creatures Imbler describes may seem bizarre—translucent orb-like salps, feral goldfish that grow to menacing proportions—their heartfelt narration ensures that listeners will recognize the beauty in them all. S.A.H. © AudioFile 2022, Portland, Maine
DECEMBER 2022 - AudioFile
2022-10-11 Part memoir and part study of the intricacies of the ocean, this exploration invites readers to imagine alternative ways of living.
In a book that is much more than an account of deep-sea creatures, journalist Imbler compellingly examines the parallels between the lives and priorities of people and aquatic animals. The author’s ability to locate connections across seemingly disparate topics—e.g., their experience with sexual assault and the life of a 10-foot-long worm called a sand striker—is both unique and engaging. Occasionally, Imbler’s juxtaposition of marine and human life feels forced, but the overall effect is heartening and encourages a reexamination of inherited ideas about family, community, and identity. Offering sometimes-graphic descriptions of the ways in which humankind has chemically altered or thoughtlessly killed individual creatures and entire species, Imbler does not shy away from highlighting the impact of the devastating effects of climate change on the mysterious inhabitants of the sea. Among the fascinating creatures the author profiles are octopus; cuttlefish; the Chinese sturgeon, “which resembles something from a past world, when scaled giants roamed the earth and the continents still clung together”; and yeti crabs, whose “inhospitable” environment, 7,000 feet below the surface, “is nothing to be pitied. The pressure does not crush the crab, and the darkness does not oppress it.” Woven throughout the author’s colorful depictions of underwater animals are equally vivid chronicles of the difficulties they have faced in their life, including disordered eating, sexual assault, racism, homophobia, and more. “Like a dutiful little trash compactor,” they write, “I had digested my messy heap of an identity into a manageable lesson for people who were not like me.” Imbler’s thoughtful presentation of their identity manages to be educational without being didactic, and their entertaining anecdotes about some bizarre animals and their behavior recalls Ed Yong’s An Immense World .
Elegant, thought-provoking comparisons between aspects of identity and the trials of deep-sea creatures.