‘Optimism’ by Bob Brown

While still a senator, Bob Brown had a “simple philosophy” printed on the back of his business card: “Caring Optimistic Defiant. We strive for peace democracy and a fair go for everyone. We champion future generations and life on Earth in all its brilliance. The future is Green.”

It’s a lot to fit on the back of a card. It is also enough to clog Optimism: Reflections on a life of action, which Brown introduces as “some stories from my journey to this simple philosophy for happiness”.

Brown, a manifestly decent man, has a reputation for selflessness. But earnest how-to-save-Earth books inevitably limp into self-help territory and Optimism has the same preachy tendencies. Initially, these are bearable. Brown arrived in Tasmania as a sexually confused young doctor, and in several short, early chapters he writes lucidly of finding his soul-home: a...