Outer Space Is Closer Than Antarctica: And Other Things I Learned While Falling in Love at the Bottom of the World

by Michelle Ott

This beautifully illustrated memoir tells artist Michelle Ott’s true story of falling in love and discovering her place in the universe on a remote research station in Antarctica.

In 2004, feeling burned out and dissatisfied, Michelle Ott left her high-profile gallery job in New York to work as a janitor at McMurdo Station in Antarctica: the coldest, windiest, driest place on Earth. There, she fell in love—not only with her future partner, but with the raw, inhospitable, incomparable beauty of the continent itself.

She took trips to nowhere on the Antarctic ice and mapped out the most romantic date locations on a remote research base where the sun never sets.

She witnessed the bright green aurora australis at -30°F, cried in response to its beauty, and found her eyes frozen shut by her tears.

She learned about (literally) breathtaking katabatic winds, ventifacts, and what it was like to bake cookies for 1000.

She dropped a piece of glacier ice into a glass of booze and consumed the ancient air bubbles that were trapped within it.

In this emotional blend of art, science, and deeply personal stories, Ott shares the wisdom and wonder gleaned from her four trips to the southernmost continent. Complete with hand-drawn maps and diagrams, accessible scientific explanations, and the realizations that can only come from turning your life upside down, Outer Space Is Closer Than Antarctica is an ode to explorers and dreamers, scientists and artists, and anyone curious enough to brave the unknown.

FOR THE EXPLORER AND THE DREAMER: Who hasn't fantasized about quitting their job, leaving city life behind, and running away to the wilderness? We might not all choose Antarctica as our dream destination, but Michelle Ott's brave, open-hearted approach to life still speaks to that nagging impulse to flip your world upside down. Her story of finding friendship, love, and an appreciation for life's simplest joys reminds us that sometimes that impulse is worth acting on.

ART + SCIENCE: This well-researched memoir presents scientific principles and research in an engaging combination of art and prose. Learn about volcanoes, stardust, Katabatic winds, the polar vortex, ventifacts, glaciers, and other Antarctic phenomena through Ott’s illustrations, maps, diagrams, and descriptions.

THE WONDER OF ANTARCTICA: Antarctica is a place of superlatives—driest, highest, coldest, windiest, biggest—and extremes. Its closest continental neighbor is 774 miles away. The Kármán line, the boundary between Earth’s atmosphere and outer space, is only 62 miles above sea level. When you are standing on any other landmass on Earth, you are nearer to outer space than to Antarctica. Science enthusiasts, creative thinkers, and armchair travelers will all find something to relish in this remarkable volume.

Perfect for:
- Lovers of illustrated nonfiction and memoirs
- Anyone who’s ever daydreamed about moving away from the city and starting fresh
- Designers, artists, visual thinkers, and other creatives
- Adults and teens who are curious about geology, geography, and earth sciences
- Scientists, researchers, and environmentalists
- Fans of introspective nature writing and authors like Katherine May and Helen Macdonald
- Romantics and readers who enjoy unconventional love stories

Genres: Memoir, Nonfiction, Travel, Biography Memoir

168 pages, Hardcover

Expected publication September 23, 2025

Reviews

[Alexandria ☾ · Rating 2 out of 5]

Thank you to NetGalley for the arc! If this wasn't an arc, I probably would have dnfed. I was aware this was a memoir, but I expected more information about Antarctica and adventures there and less about the author's relationships, friends, coworkers, jobs and uninteresting anecdotes. The (in my opinion) pointless illustrations are also very minimalist, usually one or two colors with big words spread out over the page. Not quite what I was looking for, illustration or content wise. I did like learning about the slang and terms used in Antarctica though, even if it was from over twenty years ago.

[Rebecca · Rating 5 out of 5]

Thanks so much to NetGalley for the free Kindle book. My review is voluntarily given, and my opinions are my own.

I'm not the biggest fan of memoirs, but I really loved this one. Picked it up more to see the maps and learn some new facts about Antarctica, but I loved every part of it.

The illustrations are amazing and would definitely recommend!

[Elizabeth · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was a charming blend of memoir, science, and whimsical illustrations by an artist/photographer who spent four stints working in Antarctica washing dishes, keeping track of provisions, and making round cookies (approximately 24,000 in five months!). The morale-boosting effects of round cookies (as opposed to bar cookies made in a sheet pan) were mentioned on five separate occasions in this short volume, but after discovering how many Ott made while in Antarctica, I can see why she might be obsessed with this fact.

The memoir wasn’t written in chronological order but skipped around according to theme as Ott connected her personal stories to scientific themes. I think this worked well for this particular subject matter. Ott is adept at breaking down complex scientific facts into easily digestible illustrations. My only quibble with this book is that I would have liked more illustrations (and there well may be more in the published version since this was an ARC and there were definitely several pages that felt incomplete illustration-wise).

This was a quick, fun read and I even managed to learn a thing or two about weather, geology, topography, and space.

**Thanks to NetGalley, the publisher, and the author for giving me the opportunity to review this as an ARC.**

[Molly · Rating 5 out of 5]

Outer Space is Closer than Antarctica caught my eye with its wild title—I assumed it would be some kind of humorous book. But it turns out the statement is true! And it’s just one of many fascinating things you’ll learn by reading this book.

The author, who has an art degree, went to Antarctica as a young woman almost on a whim. While there, she learned a lot about the continent—and about life itself. Not in the sense of simply growing older, but through her creative perspective, drawing parallels between her experiences in Antarctica, experiences you can have almost nowhere else, and those of everyday life.

Her illustrations are delightful, and I loved that aspect of the book. It’s a science-based memoir, but she’s not a scientist, which gives her observations a fresh and unusual perspective. I particularly enjoyed learning about the support staff at research stations, not just the scientists. Now, whenever I watch a movie or TV show set in Antarctica—or even the Arctic—I’ll remember there’s a whole other world behind the scenes.

This is a quick, engaging read with plenty of illustrations, and I highly recommend it. If you’ve ever wondered what life is like at the bottom of the world, this book is a perfect introduction.

[Elisa · Rating 2 out of 5]

This book has a lot of fascinating information about Antarctica. Unfortunately, it’s disorganized and buried amongst other information that I wasn’t too interested in. The author’s account about her “trip to nowhere,” how disconcerting it is to have perpetual sunlight or darkness, what they wear, how they get there and other accounts of daily life at McMurdo was great, but it was disorganized and hard to follow. I was super-interested in the information, so it didn’t’ matter much. My real problem was how much of the content is about the author’s personal life. I’m aware that this is how memoirs work but this is not a genre I enjoy, and I hoped that the information about Antarctica would offset the rest of the personal details. The illustrations were fun, but they’re not the same as photographs. Ott mentions how she took her camera, and those pictures would have been amazing. So, this read was entertaining but a little disappointing if you want to learn about the coldest continent. Memoir readers might enjoy it more. It was not for me.
I chose to read this book and all opinions in this review are my own and completely unbiased. Thank you, NetGalley/Chronicle Books.

[Christie · Rating 3 out of 5]

Outer Space is Closer Than Antarctica by Michelle Ott is a look at one woman’s journey on a quest for personal peace. Working in a high stress environment, Ott decided to spend a season working at McMurdo Station in Antarctica. She starts in the janitorial group but works her way up, a couple of seasons later, to baking, making round cookies for the staff because round makes them feel more homey than bar cookies. Ott is an artist and reflects on her personal life and work life with drawings of scientific things that occur in Antarctica. Not only is it a personal story but also a science lesson, as well.

[Carmen · Rating 4 out of 5]

Thank you to NetGalley for providing me with an early copy of this book.

I really liked that the goal of the book was to link scientific research done in Antarctica to the author's stories, so it personalizes science so others will care about it.

I really liked the illustrations and wish there had been more. (I now realize that a few of the illustrations may have been missing from my copy since there were random blank pages.) Because of the illustrations, I would recommend a hard copy over an ebook.

Overall, it was a quick read, I enjoyed it, and learned some really cool things.

[Amanda · Rating 5 out of 5]

I really enjoyed Outer Space is Closer than Antarctica. This was a fun short read that included illustrations that I loved. Some of my favorite parts throughout where were the author would take specific Antarctic elements or science elements and parallel or relate them to her life experiences. I loved learning things about Antarctica that I didn't know.
Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for this ARC in exchange for my honest opinion.