Bernhard, Stephanie. “Survival Tips: On Jenny Offill’s Weather.” LA Times Review of Books, 13 February 2020 https://lareviewofbooks.org/article/survival-tips-on-jenny-offills-weather/

• This article examines Weather, focusing on its depiction of precarity and existential uncertainty in the face of global crises such as climate change, political instability, and personal fragility. Bernhard analyzes Offill’s use of fragmented narrative style and the protagonist, Lizzie’s, internal monologue to convey the emotional and psychological toll of living in a world that feels increasingly unsteady.

Fisher, Clare “The Centrality of the Trivial: Jenny Offill’s Weather“, Alluvium 8.2 13 July 2020. https://doi.org/10.7766/alluvium.v8.2.04 

• In this article, Fisher challenges the traditional hierarchy in which “trivial” details are considered less important than grand, more obvious themes or events in literature. Fisher suggests that attention to the “trivial” is not only necessary but central to understanding the complex, often fragmented nature of contemporary experiences. The article delves into how the trivial functions as a counterpoint to larger narratives, offering a more intimate and realistic portrayal of life, identity, and social relations. 

Kruger, Katherine “Aging through Precarious Time: Maintenance and Milling in The Cost of Living and Weather, Poetics Today, Vol. 44, 1 June 2023 https://doi-org.proxy.wexler.hunter.cuny.edu/10.1215/03335372-10342099

• This article uses the temporal concepts of maintenance (the repetitive steps one takes to care for themselves) and milling (fragmented, repetitive experience of time) to explore how aging is experienced in times of social and political uncertainty (precarity), particularly for women. The work of sustaining oneself is almost metaphoric for the experience of aging itself.

Peinado Abarrio, R. (2022). “fragmented and bewildering:” The New Risk Society in Jenny Offill’s weather. Revista de Estudios Norteamericanos, Vol. 26, 29 December 2022 https://doi.org/10.12795/ren.2022.i26.11 

• This article analyzes Jenny Offill’s Weather through the lens of Ulrich Beck’s concept of “New Risk Society”, which examines how modern societies are shaped by the management and experience of various uncertainties and risks. The article argues that Offill’s fragmented narrative structure reflects the disorienting nature of contemporary life, where personal anxieties and global crises contribute to a sense of precariousness. Peinado-Abarrio explores how Lizzie navigates herself in a world characterized by instability, highlighting how the novel reflects broader societal fears and the emotional toll of living in a time dominated by risk.

Preston, Alex. “Jenny Offill: ‘I Don’t Miss the World as Much as, Perhaps, I Should.'” The Guardian, 9 January 2021, https://www.theguardian.com/books/2021/jan/09/jenny-offill-weather-climate-crisis-coronavirus-donald-trump

• In this interview with Jenny Offill, Alex Preston delves into the themes of Offill’s novels, particularly Weather. The article explores Offill’s reflections on writing in an era marked by uncertainty, political chaos, and environmental crises.

Sehgal, Parul. “How to Write Fiction When the Planet Is Falling Apart.” The New York Times, 5 February 2020, https://www.nytimes.com/2020/02/05/magazine/jenny-offill-weather-book.html

• In this article, Sehgal explores the tension between the existential crises facing the planet and writing fiction in such a world. Sehgal examines how contemporary writers grapple with the challenge of creating meaningful narratives while the planet seems to be in a state of collapse. 

Question: How does Jenny Offill’s minimalist and fragmented narrative structure in Weather play with temporality & reflect society’s difficulty in both conceptualizing and acting in the current climate crisis? How does this shape the novel’s portrayal of existential uncertainty about the future?

Peinado-Abarrio, Rubén “‘FRAGMENTED AND BEWILDERING:’ THE NEW RISK SOCIETY IN JENNY OFFILL’S WEATHER'” https://institucional.us.es/revistas/estudios/26/peinado-abarrio.pdf 

Preston, Alex (The Guardian) “Jenny Offill: ‘I don’t miss the world as much as, perhaps, I should’” https://www.theguardian.com/books/2021/jan/09/jenny-offill-weather-climate-crisis-coronavirus-donald-trump

Bernhard, Stephanie (LA Review of Books) “Survival Tips: On Jenny Offill’s ‘Weather’” https://lareviewofbooks.org/article/survival-tips-on-jenny-offills-weather/ 

Sehgal, Parul (New York Times) “How to Write Fiction When the Planet Is Falling Apart” https://www.nytimes.com/2020/02/05/magazine/jenny-offill-weather-book.html 

After reading the second part of “Weather”, I am understanding more about what makes this book a part of the cli-fi genre. It is fairly subtle, but we, as the reader, do feel a shift in this section. 

There are a couple things going on in this section that make the reader realize what is happening. First, we have what the novel does so well: scattered thoughts. We get the astronauts and her mother and Nicola, etc. But in this section it feels much closer, much more suffocating. The thoughts we’re getting from her have a darker tinge to them. These thoughts, these moments, these jumps mirror the outside world, and how chaotic and overwhelming it is. There is a sort of unidentifiable sense of impending doom, which is really an essential piece of the cli-fi genre.

Second, in one of her blips, Lizzie tells us that she avoids “the people [she lives] with” by spending too much time on the phone with her mother. She claims this to be a part of a much larger issue of her making bad decisions and finding herself unable to stop them. Her choosing this specific example is striking to me because it shows that she is actively choosing to avoid the most important people in her life. This is due to an underlying anxiety she has about the future, which compels her to turn away from the people who know her best. 

I think this part is incredibly well done, because it feels, like the rest of the book, incredibly real. The constant shifting of Lizzie’s mind to these “doomsday” type thoughts. The constant shifting, period. The worrying and fretting over small, meaningless, things and inability to really address this feeling. It reads to me like a very real depiction of an anxious, buzzing mind. 

That being said, she does talk about Klonopin and knowing she can’t overdo her usage of drugs to the point where she can no longer use them (92). It is not like she is oblivious to the anxious feelings she is having. I think she is just trying her best to ride it out. 

“Weather” is not a novel that shouts “climate disaster” at you. Rather, it suggests these climate crisis-related themes through the speaker’s life events and internal thoughts. This novel, in my opinion, hits harder because of this subtly. There is a creeping, but very real danger. Exploring it through the way it affects the mind is a brilliant and incredibly impactful way to do it.

How does Jenny Offill’s minimalist and fragmented narrative structure in “Weather” create a contrast with the complex, existential themes of climate change and societal insecurity, and how does this tension shape the novel’s portrayal of contemporary anxiety about the future?

Weather by Jenny Offill is a novel that is immediately easy to sink into. It feels like Lizzie has written a letter of poetry to us, the reader. Split into sections, it is easily digestible. It also feels very intimate, as if she has written to a close friend. Characters are introduced as if we already know who they are, which I appreciate. We immediately see them as Lizzie sees them and never question this. We are as close to Lizzie we can get without actually being her. 

Because the story is broken up in the way it is, it gives us a sense of incompleteness. The thoughts and points Lizzie has aren’t elaborated on or further explored, they’re just there, and then they are gone. This is interesting because a recurring theme we see in the novel (so far) is a fragmented world. Thoughts about technology, about animals, human relationships, and so on and so forth. Constantly jumping around from this anecdote to that emphasizes this idea of the world as a fragmented place. This kind of structure fits with some of the conversations she has, like the section about the girl having an older model of a phone, or Lizzie not having social media.

On the other, we see Lizzie having really meaningful interactions with people, not always in a positive way but meaningful nonetheless. Somewhere in the beginning, Lizzie comments on how people like to lecture people all the time now. First the lady about the ham sandwich, but then Mr. Jimmy and his business/marital issues, the owner of the ma-and-pop hardware store, and the lady whose daughter overdosed. Lizzie is a compassionate character, and all of these moments impact her in some way (or else why would they be included). 

There is a tension between this fragmentation in the world and Lizzie’s desire (or maybe just tendency) to connect with people on a deeper level. I think an underlying concern of the novel is how we, in this crazy world, go forward and make meaning. But I also think the novel is responding to that concern with these little moments we see. Connection can be fragmented, meaning can be fragmented but that doesn’t make them unimportant. Lizzie, as a character, is very likable, and it makes the reader feel a sense of kinship with her. The way she navigates the world feels like something a lot of people can relate to and identify with.