A Paradise Built in Hell: The Extraordinary Communities That Arise in Disaster [Paperback]

From the author ofMen Explain Things to Me– “A landmark book that gives impassioned challenge to the social meaning of disasters” (The New York Times Book Review)

The freshest, deepest, most optimistic account of human nature I've come across in years.  
-Bill McKibben 

Chosen as a Best Book of the Year bythe New York Times,Los Angeles Times,New Yorker,San Francisco Chronicle,Washington Post, andChicago Tribune

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 Hellis 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. Thought-provoking . . . captivating and compelling . . . there's a hopeful, optimistic, even contagious quality to this superb book.
--Los Angeles Times

In her far-reaching and large-spirited new book, 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.
--San Francisco Chronicle  

Stirring . . . fascinating . . . presents a withering critique of modern capitalist society by examining five catastrophes . . . Her account of these events are so stirring that her book is worth reading for its storytelling alone. . . . [An] exciting and important contribution to our understanding of ourselvesl?