The Deluge, by Stephen Markley
“In the first decades of the 21st century, the world is convulsing, its governments mired in gridlock while a patient but unrelenting ecological crisis looms. America is in upheaval, battered by violent weather and extreme politics. In California in 2013, Tony Pietrus, a scientist studying deposits of undersea methane, receives a death threat. His fate will become bound to a stunning cast of characters—a broken drug addict, a star advertising strategist, a neurodivergent mathematician, a cunning eco-terrorist, an actor turned religious zealot, and a brazen young activist named Kate Morris, who, in the mountains of Wyoming, begins a project that will alter the course of the decades to come.
From the Gulf Coast to Los Angeles, the Midwest to Washington, DC, their intertwined odysseys unfold against a stark backdrop of accelerating chaos as they summon courage, galvanize a nation, fall to their own fear, and find wild hope in the face of staggering odds. As their stories hurtle toward a spectacular climax, each faces a reckoning: what will they sacrifice to salvage humanity’s last chance at a future? A singular achievement, The Deluge is a once-in-a-generation novel that meets the moment as few works of art ever have.”
Stephen Markley is the acclaimed author of Ohio, which NPR called a “masterpiece.” A graduate of the Iowa Writer’s Workshop, Markley’s other books include the memoir Publish This Book and the travelogue Tales of Iceland.
(bio + summary from Simon + Schuster)
Meeting Info
Wednesday April 2nd, 2025
6:30-8 PM
350PDX office conference room, 3625 N Mississippi Ave
Light refreshments (including beer + wine) will be provided. Feel free to bring stuff to share.
RSVP here
Email us at books@350pdx.org if you have any questions.
Join the 350PDX Climate Book Club! A place for anyone interested in the climate justice movement to come together and talk about the most important books of our time.We meet every month, usually the first Wednesday, from 6:30pm-8pm, and alternate between virtual and gathering in the 350PDX Office (although this sometimes changes, so doublecheck). We alternate between fiction and non-fiction.
Need to borrow the book? Reach out and we’ll see what we can do!
