A paradise built in hell - The extraordinary communities that arise in Disaster
Dublin Core
Title
A paradise built in hell - The extraordinary communities that arise in Disaster
Subject
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.
Description
Prelude: Falling together
I - A millenial good fellowship: the San Francisco earthquake
- The Mizpah Café
- Pauline Jacobson's Joy
- General Funston's Fear
- William James's Moral equivalents
- Dorothy Day's Other Loves
II - Halifax to Hollywood: The great debate
- A tale of two Princes : the Halifax explosion and after
- From the Blitza and tje bomb to Vitenam
- Hobbes in Hollywood, or the few versus the many
III - Carnival and revolution: Mexico City's earthquake
- Power from below
- Losing the mandate of heaven
- Standing on the top of golden hours
IV - The city transfigured: New York in grief and glory
- Mutual aid in the marketplace
- The need to help
- Nine hundred and eleven questions
V - New Orleans: common grounds and killers
- What difference would it make?
- Murderers
- Love and lifeboats
- Beloved community
Epilogue: the doorway in the ruins
Gratitude
Notes
Index
I - A millenial good fellowship: the San Francisco earthquake
- The Mizpah Café
- Pauline Jacobson's Joy
- General Funston's Fear
- William James's Moral equivalents
- Dorothy Day's Other Loves
II - Halifax to Hollywood: The great debate
- A tale of two Princes : the Halifax explosion and after
- From the Blitza and tje bomb to Vitenam
- Hobbes in Hollywood, or the few versus the many
III - Carnival and revolution: Mexico City's earthquake
- Power from below
- Losing the mandate of heaven
- Standing on the top of golden hours
IV - The city transfigured: New York in grief and glory
- Mutual aid in the marketplace
- The need to help
- Nine hundred and eleven questions
V - New Orleans: common grounds and killers
- What difference would it make?
- Murderers
- Love and lifeboats
- Beloved community
Epilogue: the doorway in the ruins
Gratitude
Notes
Index
Creator
Steve Zissou
Source
Date
2010
Format
Pocket
Language
EN
Type
Essay
Identifier
ISBN: 9780143118077
Coverage
World
Text Item Type Metadata
From
Rebecca Solnit
Publisher
Penguin Random House
Text
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.” —San Francisco Chronicle
A stirring investigation into what happens in the aftermath of disaster, from the author of Orwell’s Roses
“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.” —San Francisco Chronicle
A stirring investigation into what happens in the aftermath of disaster, from the author of Orwell’s Roses
Location
Shelves
Rating
8
Files
Citation
Steve Zissou, “A paradise built in hell - The extraordinary communities that arise in Disaster,” Owl's Watch shared Library, accessed December 6, 2025, https://docs.owlswatch.net/items/show/635.