In 'Eradication,' a grieving man sets off to a remote island to save the world

Summary

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NPR's Book of the Day — Episode Summary

Episode: In 'Eradication,' a grieving man sets off to a remote island to save the world
Host: Scott Simon (with introduction by Andrew Limbong)
Guest: Jonathan Miles (author of Eradication)
Date: February 19, 2026

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Episode Overview

This episode explores Eradication, a poignant new novel by Jonathan Miles. The story centers on Adi, a grieving father who, after the death of his young son and the collapse of his marriage, takes a job to save endangered ecosystems on a remote island by eradicating invasive goats. Through conversation with Scott Simon, Miles unpacks the novel’s themes: the complexities of killing, the language (and euphemisms) we use for it, and the search for meaning in loss. The interview delves into empathy, morality, environmentalism, and the subtle humanity that arises in impossible situations.

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Key Discussion Points & Insights

The Emotional Weight of Killing

• Opening Context:
  • Host Andrew Limbong shares a childhood memory of slaughtering animals and the conflicting mix of "sadness, disgust, gratitude and a sense that it's had to be done" (00:02).
  • Draws immediate parallel to Adi's struggle with the job’s moral implications.

The Book’s Premise & Real-World Roots

• Adi's Mission:

  • Adi is hired to eradicate goats from the island of Santa Flora, where their unchecked population (from 19th-century whalers) has devastated local plant and bird species (02:05).
  • Quote from the novel (read by Miles):

    "The problem is that history leaves a slime trail like a snail... Birds stopped landing on Santa Flora because there were no more trees for them... Birdsong was no longer the predominant sound on Santa Flora. The grinding of teeth was." — Jonathan Miles (03:24)

• Environmental Context:

  • Miles stresses this fiction echoes real eradication efforts on Pacific and Caribbean islands (03:45).

Euphemisms for Killing

• Language Games:
  • Simon observes, “The interviewer can never quite bring herself to say kill, can she?” (03:40)
  • Miles responds about the use of "remove" instead of "kill", highlighting how society sanitizes acts we find uncomfortable (03:45).

The Main Character’s Psychology

• Adi's Motivation:
  • Simon: Why is Adi willing to do this work, since he's not a hunter? (04:24)
  • Miles:

    “What Adi is searching for is what used to be called respair, a forgotten archaic term for the recovery from despair or resumption of hope... He was not able to save his son. And I think he sees [this job] as a chance to save something.” (04:30)

Personification and Attachment

• Camaraderie with the Goats:

  • As Adi spends time on the island, he develops emotional bonds with the goats, giving them names and attributing personalities:

    “He was beginning to tell them apart now. Not just Harmony, the singer, but the other six... Adi started calling Booska after a cartoon character Hyrule had been fond of... and Otie called this one Contact Lens.” (05:08)

• Ethical Complexity:

  • Simon notes naming them “doesn’t seem like a way to work up... the kind of hardness in your soul to actually shoot goat after goat.” (05:54)

  • Miles:

    “Adi is entirely incompetent for this position... he has never voluntarily taken another life... [the goats] become his companions... He starts to see them as individuals. He starts to see the commonality of our desires... that makes it much, much harder to eradicate them.” (06:10)

Moral and Emotional Climax

• Struggling to Fulfill His Task:
  • Simon: “Without giving too much away, he decides to alter his orders, doesn’t he?” (07:15)
  • Miles details the emotional turmoil after shooting his first goat — carrying its carcass back, trying to “square the natural cycle” by eating it, and ultimately experiencing the act as “sinful, an absolute desecration.”

    “At one point, he... wades out into the ocean as if to unburden himself of the weight of what he's done, to unburden humanity.” (07:19)

Literary Influences and Tone

• Comparative Notes:
  • Simon: The book evokes “stirrings of Lord of the Flies and The Old Man and the Sea” (08:17).
  • Miles:

    “Intended is a funny word for novelist... everything that a novelist, or really any artist reads or hears somehow gets metabolized into what we make. So were they conscious influences? I'm not sure, but were they there? Definitely.” (08:30)

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Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments

• “The problem is that history leaves a slime trail like a snail... Birdsong was no longer the predominant sound on Santa Flora. The grinding of teeth was.”
  — Jonathan Miles reading from Eradication (03:24)

• “What Adi is searching for is what used to be called respair... a chance to save something.”
  — Jonathan Miles (04:30)

• “Adi is entirely incompetent for this position... he starts to see them as individuals. He starts to see the commonality of our desires... that makes it much, much harder to eradicate them.”
  — Jonathan Miles (06:10)

• “At one point, he... wades out into the ocean as if to unburden himself of the weight of what he's done, to unburden humanity.”
  — Jonathan Miles (07:19)

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Timestamps for Important Segments

| Timestamp | Segment Description | |-----------|-----------------------------------------------------------------| | 00:02 | Andrew Limbong's personal reflection on killing animals | | 02:05 | Introduction of Adi, Adi's losses, and the eradication mission | | 03:24 | Jonathan Miles reads vivid passage from the book | | 03:45 | Discussion on the euphemisms for killing animals | | 04:30 | Miles explains Adi’s motivation and the concept of “respair” | | 05:08 | Personification and naming of goats, deepening Adi’s empathy | | 06:10 | Ethical struggle: Adi’s unsuitability and growing attachment | | 07:19 | Adi’s crisis after his first kill and attempts at atonement | | 08:17 | Simon’s literary comparisons; discussion of influences |

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Conclusion

NPR’s Book of the Day's conversation with Jonathan Miles offers a nuanced dive into Eradication's moral complexity, emotional depth, and real-world environmental resonances. Adi’s journey, both geographic and psychological, raises enduring questions about grief, responsibility, and whether it’s possible—or right—to try to “save” the world when redemption feels out of reach. This episode will resonate with anyone interested in literary fiction, environmental themes, or stories about searching for hope amidst despair.

Transcript

[Andrew Limbong]

Hey, it's NPR's Book of the Day. I'm Andrew Limbong. When I was about 10 or so, I was in Indonesia and my uncle took me to go pick up some meat for a big family gathering. It turns out the place was a bit of a DIY operation. The pigs were in a yard out back and you had to catch one yourself, tie it up and slaughter it. It's an interesting feeling killing an animal. It's a mixture of sadness, disgust, gratitude and a sense that it's had to be done. And so I completely understand when the main character in today's book decides that killing animals is not a thing he wants to do. Unfortunately, he signed up for a job to do just that. The book is titled Eradication by novelist Jonathan Miles. And in this interview, he talks to NPR's Scott Simon about the euphemisms we use when we talk about killing animals and how people can talk themselves into doing a job that they hate. That's ahead.

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[Scott Simon]

Adi is a man who suffered a great loss, the death of his young son and then the breakup of his marriage. And so he finds appeal in a short term job that calls for someone who is interested in saving the world. A foundation hires him to go to the remote island of Santa Flora where native plants and birds are endangered by a multiplying population of goats left by 19th century whalers. And here's what the interviewer tells him.

[Jonathan Miles]

The problem is that history leaves a slime trail Like a snail. Whaling eventually ended, more or less, but the goats didn't. No one thought about them except a few sealers and fishermen stopping off at Santa Flora. The goats ate. They made more of each other. The new ones ate alongside the old. The airplane was invented. The goats looked up, chewing. The atomic bomb got dropped. The goats glanced over, chewing. Humans walked on the moon. The goats kept chewing. Birds stopped landing on Santa Flora because there were no more trees for them. But without any other islands in range, entire species fell from the sky and disappeared. Birdsong was no longer the predominant sound on Santa Flora. The grinding of teeth was.

[Scott Simon]

Ottie's mission is to shoot every last one of those goats. Eradication is a new, short, urgent and lyrical novel by Jonathan Miles. He joins us from the studios of WBEZ in Chicago. Thank you so much for being with us.

[Jonathan Miles]

It's a pleasure.

[Scott Simon]

The interviewer can never quite bring herself to say kill, can she?

[Jonathan Miles]

Well, she uses the. She says you have to remove the goats. The non native feral goats have so decimated the ecosystem of the island that they have endangered this slew of bird, plant and reptile species. The idea is that if you remove the goats, you can restore this island to its once Edenic state. And I should note that this isn't a product of imagination. There are, have been and continue to be goat eradication efforts across multiple islands in the Pacific and Caribbean.

[Scott Simon]

What makes Adi willing to do the work? He's not a hunter by training or even instinct.

[Jonathan Miles]

He's not. I think what Adi is searching for is what used to be called respair. It's a forgotten archaic term for the recovery from despair or resumption of hope. When he sees the job listing advertising this opportunity to save the world, he was not able to save his son. And I think he sees it as a chance to save something.

[Scott Simon]

The goats, though, make their impression on him, don't they? I mean, they reveal themselves as personalities as he gets to know them.

[Jonathan Miles]

Yes.

[Scott Simon]

Want you to read another section if we can, too. When seven nanny goats show up at.

[Jonathan Miles]

His doorstep, he was beginning to tell them apart now. Not just Harmony, the singer, but the other six. Their horns varied for starters. Some blunt, some long, one pair curled at the ends and another pair twisted like helices. Five of them had thick, wavy coats. Two had short hair as though fresh from the salon. One with big recumbent teeth. Adi started calling Booska after a cartoon character Hyrule had been fond of. Another pawed constantly in the sand as though futilely searching for something. And Otie called This one contact lens. Still another displayed the alarming ability to rotate her head nearly 180 degrees in order to rake her hind legs. This one, Adi named Linda Blair.

[Scott Simon]

Maybe we should explain this, being NPR after the film and the Exorcist, that doesn't seem like a way to work up the. The kind of hardness in your soul to actually shoot goat after goat. Is it giving them all kind of winsome names?

[Jonathan Miles]

Adi is entirely incompetent for this position. Like most of us, he has never voluntarily taken another life. He's an urbanite, he's an apartment dweller. He's a habitat of jazz clubs and classrooms. So Adi is alone on this island, and the goats very quickly become his companions. He starts to see the differences in them. He starts to see them as individuals. He starts to see the commonality of our desires. You know, he sees them raising their kids. He sees them eating. He sees them not making the choice to invade this island, as has been alleged, but simply to keep on living. And of course, that makes it much, much harder to eradicate them.

[Scott Simon]

Without giving too much away, he decides to alter his orders, doesn't he?

[Jonathan Miles]

Yeah. After he shoots his first goat, which is a harrowing experience for him, he finds himself unable to leave the carcass. It just feels sinful to him, an absolute desecration. And so he tries carrying the carcass back to his camp because he feels that if he eats the goat, he will somehow square the natural cycle to make it right. Of course, carrying an entire goat across an island becomes very difficult for him, and little by little, he must cut off parts of it. And at one point, he, you know, takes two of its legs out, wades out into the ocean as if to unburden himself of the weight of what he's done, to unburden humanity of what it has done. Perhaps.

[Scott Simon]

I closed the book and felt stirrings of Lord of the Flies and the Old man and the Sea, which obviously. High compliments.

[Jonathan Miles]

Thank you.

[Scott Simon]

Is that intended?

[Jonathan Miles]

Intended is a funny word for novelist, right? I think that everything that a novelist, or really any artist reads or hears somehow gets metabolized into what we make. So were they conscious influences? I'm not sure, but were they there? Definitely.

[Scott Simon]

Eradication is the new novel from Jonathan Miles. Thank you so much for being with us.

[Jonathan Miles]

Thank you, Scott. It's an honor and a privilege.

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