Hogs Wild: Selected Reporting Pieces

New Yorker contributor Frazier (Travels in Siberia) presents a selection of varied, compelling articles dating from 2000 onward. Known for his keen wit (which does appear, to great effect), Frazier also grapples seriously with societal issues: homelessness and the shelter system in New York City, the opioid addiction epidemic, and the environmental effect of invasive species such as Asian carp and the titular feral hogs. He also charts the landscape of the city, surveying both its marvels (the Croton reservoir system, harbor seals) and its plagues (a danger-filled bus route in Brooklyn, Hurricane Sandy’s toll). Several pieces, such as one about an apparent meteorite that fell into a bathroom in a New Jersey home, defy easy classification but display Frazier’s trademark curiosity about the world and the people who inhabit it. Frazier gives a human dimension to his research with probing, evocative profiles of the people he meets, whether the subject is the care and preservation of a horseshoe crab population or a start-up that is making substitutes for plastic out of mushrooms. This is a journey that both admirers and readers new to Frazier’s work will not want to miss. (June)