A Paradise Built in Hell Audiobook By Rebecca Solnit cover art

A Paradise Built in Hell

The Extraordinary Communities That Arise in Disaster

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A Paradise Built in Hell

By: Rebecca Solnit
Narrated by: Emily Beresford
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About this listen

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.

©2009 Rebecca Solnit (P)2014 Audible Inc.
Disaster Relief Psychology Psychology & Mental Health Social Psychology & Interactions Social Sciences Sociology Inspiring Socialism
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Critic reviews

"The freshest, deepest, most optimistic account of human nature I've come across in years." (Bill McKibben)
Thought Provoking Insights • Well Researched Content • Compelling Reading • Eye Opening Perspectives
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This book was so worth my time. I loved the positivity. How humans respond to each other during disaster is a very interesting topic.

Really informative and uplifting

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It was a book I needed to “read” for a college course and it was amazing! Really enjoyed the book and following along with audible really helped out! Recommend!

For school

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Buy the hard copy. I am returning the book and doing so because the singsong voice of the reader grates.

Narration Ruined Audiobook

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Everyone needs to listen to this book! It is truly an eye opener. Two words.

A must read

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Although a talented reader, the tone of the narrator's voice doesn't reach the higher light in this wonderful book.

The higher light.

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The narrator took little to no time to get pronunciation right. The very bad Spanish and French accents are annoying.

The basic thesis of the author merits careful consideration.

Narrator is a problem

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This is a very interesting and worthwhile book. I will try to make the time to finish it on paper. The narrator keeps doing extremely cringe “accents” whenever she’s quoting a non-white American. In Power from Below it became unbearable and I had to shut it off.

Not a great performance

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Is there anything you would change about this book?

Narration

What was the most interesting aspect of this story? The least interesting?

Learning about the criminal behavior of the authorities during the San Francisco earthquake and fires. Fascinating. Other stories were not as cohesive.

How did the narrator detract from the book?

I hung in there until The narrator started speaking with an accent when reading quotes translated from the original Spanish. I found it very offensive and distracting as I wondered whether she would use an accent when quoting people from other non-English speaking nations - will she dare to use a Japanese or Chinese accent??!! (Answer- no, she only used a “Spanish” accent). I finally gave up on listening to the rest of the book since I couldn’t focus on the content.

Any additional comments?

Loved Solnics other writings, especially The Faraway Nearby.

Narration interferes with story

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After the mess that was 2020 and what we surely face in the years to come this book is a must read. I worked with Food Not Bombs during Occupy and while it wasn't a disaster, suddenly having 1000 people to feed three meals a day when we usually fed 50 1 meal a week certainly caused a community like Ms Solnit describes in this book. We wpuld do well to heed someone in the book's wiords “It's tempting to ask why if you fed your neighbors during the time of the earthquake and fire, you didn't do so before or after.”

Another world is waiting for us.

AN idea whose time has (finally) come

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I will avoid other books performed by this narrator. Her performance almost made me return the book. Thankfully, Solnit is awesome. Content saved the performance.

Cringeworthy performance

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