“We are sleepwalking into the future,” author James Howard Kunstler said in his biting 2004 TEDTalk, envisioning a bleak post-oil era for sprawling suburban America. His predictions come to life, now, in spite of the controversy surrounding them: Kunstler has written a novel, titled World Made by Hand, which details life in the “Long Emergency.” On the book’s website you can find a video trailer for the novel, an interview with Kunstler, as well as a sample chapter.

Following the likes of other TEDTalks favorites (such as Aubrey de Grey), Kunstler recently appeared on the Colbert Report to promote his book.

The novel follows a character named Robert Earle — a carpenter who was once a corporate executive.