A
New York Times
Notable Book
Chosen as a Best Book of the Year by
the New York Times
,
Los Angeles Times
New Yorker
San Francisco Chronicle
Washington Post
, and
Chicago Tribune
“A landmark book that gives impassioned challenge to the social meaning of disasters”
—
The New York Times Book Review
“
Solnit argues that disasters are opportunities as well as oppressions, each one a summons to rediscover the powerful engagement and joy of genuine altruism, civic life, grassroots community, and meaningful work.
”
A stirring investigation into what happens in the aftermath of disaster, from the author of
Orwell's Roses
The most startling thing about disasters, according to award-winning author Rebecca Solnit, is not merely that so many people rise to the occasion, but that they do so with joy. That joy reveals an ordinarily unmet yearning for community, purposefulness, and meaningful work that disaster often provides.
A Paradise Built in Hell
is an investigation of the moments of altruism, resourcefulness, and generosity that arise amid disaster's grief and disruption and considers their implications for everyday life. It points to a new vision of what society could become-one that is less authoritarian and fearful, more collaborative and local.