Starred review from June 27, 2022
In this incandescent debut, human rights attorney Aguon celebrates the power of thought and literature through probing reflections on finding hope in the face of an “unforgiving timeline.” Assuming “we have about eight years left to get our collective shit together... and ensure the future habitability of the earth,” Aguon meditates on the ways that “bearing witness” can help foster change in a declining world. In “The Properties of Perpetual Light,” he considers the brilliance of Black feminist Audre Lorde’s words, which attempt to “close some gap between blindness and our better selves.” The book’s title essay, meanwhile, addresses the inescapable grip of colonialism on Guam, Aguon’s homeland, while ruminating on his vision of a global justice movement anchored “in the intellectual contributions of Indigenous peoples... who have a unique capacity to resist despair through connection to collective memory.” Looking to Paulo Coelho’s The Alchemist, Aguon urges readers to “listen to one’s own heart.... anyone who interferes with another’s destiny will never discover their own.” In eloquent maxims that call forth comparisons to Thoreau, Aguon pits lofty ideals against a backdrop of racism, brutality, and habitat destruction, but optimism prevails: “What is hope,” he wonders, “if not a stubborn chink of light in the dark?” This is bound to inspire any activist.

July 15, 2022
An attorney and environmental activist from Guam turns a searching eye on the fate of his homeland in a time of undeniable climate change. "I cannot think of anything more terrifying than children who do not believe the world can be changed," writes Aguon in this mixed collection of prose and poetry. Yet, by his account, thus it is in his native Guam, long under de facto military occupation by the U.S. Some 5,000 Marines are set to move from Okinawa to Guam to train on gunnery ranges that will destroy the habitat of a cousin of the monarch butterfly as well as several other local species. Furthermore, the facility is "being built dangerously close to the island's primary source of drinking water." The Marines aren't the only threat; with climate change come rising seas that will overwhelm lower-lying sections of the islands of the western Pacific. Small wonder that the inhabitants take a fatalistic view of events. "We are always hearing about what we don't have, what is not possible, what can't change," writes Aguon. "We become fluent in the language of limitation." Against this, the author urges a battle on many fronts. As an attorney, he has argued before the Supreme Court matters of the rights of Indigenous people, drawing on precedents established by Native American tribes though, admittedly, "with few doctrinal tools left at our disposal." Against this hopeful resistance, Aguon allows that there are myriad reasons for fatalism, including an overwhelming degree of injustice and violence visited on Indigenous and oppressed peoples around the world. As the subtitle notes, the prose is lyrical, while the poetry is mostly just prose with broken lines. More incisive are the author's thoughtful sentiments, delivered as addresses, commencement speeches, and the like, in which he waxes aspirational: "What I wish for you is that, whatever work you do, be, as they say, your love made visible." Arundhati Roy provides the foreword. A slender but meaningful call for justice.

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August 1, 2022

Aguon's (The Properties of Perpetual Light) engaging book is a moving and impassioned read for anyone interested in world politics and environmental issues. This collection of essays, personal stories, speeches, and prose shines a light on the struggles of Guam, nuclear warfare, and global warming. In the title essay, Aguon, an Indigenous lawyer and activist from Guam, discusses the United States' militarization and colonization of his home country. He also discusses the history of Guam's struggles and provides an overview of current events in "Birthday Cake Means Birthdays," "The Gift Anne Gave Me," and "Reflections While Driving." The author thoroughly describes the history of atrocities his country has been through and their current conflicts. While there are serious themes in this book, there is also plenty of hope. VERDICT This short read packs a great deal of heart and promise for readers. Aguon has written both an informational and philosophical book that will please readers interested in environmental and political issues.--Anna Kallemeyn

Copyright 2022 Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

August 1, 2022
""How do we stay human in a warming world?"" Aguon echoes this question by ecofeminist author Naomi Klein in this intimately moving collection of poetry and prose. A human rights lawyer and advocate for the peoples and environments of Oceania, Aguon issues a call to reject predatory capitalism and instead to ""build a new world rooted in reciprocity and mutual respect--for the earth and for each other."" Drawing on the wisdom of his Chamorro ancestors, Aguon brings together nearly two dozen short pieces to create a constellation of quietly compelling moments. Whether admiring foraminifera, tiny stellate exoskeletons that accumulate on the beaches in Guam, or heeding his godfather's advice to ""go with the moon"" when casting nets for rabbitfish, Aguon's clear thinking and bright language illustrate the urgency of fighting global climate injustice. It's not all earnest appeals to appreciate nature's magic. Aguon also issues full-throated denunciations of Guam's ongoing militarization and elsewhere re-evaluates his teenage admiration for indigenous writer Sherman Alexie in light of #MeToo allegations. Aguon's clarity of focus and radical empathy are desperately necessary for imagining another world.

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