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A reissue of this inspiring and heartbreaking memoir about family,
empathy and the stories we tell about ourselves and others Gifts
come in many guises. One summer, Rebecca Solnit was given three
boxes of ripening apricots, fruit from a neglected tree that her
mother, gradually succumbing to memory loss, could no longer tend
to. In this courageous, heartbreaking memoir, Solnit draws from
this unexpected inheritance, weaving her own story into fairy tales
and the lives of others. Encompassing the Marquis de Sade and Mary
Shelley, explorers and monsters, a library of water in Iceland, and
the depths of the Grand Canyon, The Faraway Nearby is a meditation
on family, empathy, and the art of storytelling from a writer of
limitless talent and imagination.
A landmark, incendiary collection from one of the leading essayists
working today. Inspiring everyone from radical activists to
Beyoncé Knowles, Rebecca Solnit's essay 'Men Explain Things to Me'
has become a touchstone of the feminist movement and established
her as one of the leading thinkers of our time. Here it is
collected along with the best of Solnit's feminist writings. From
French sex scandals to the nuclear family, rape culture to
mansplaining, Virginia Woolf to colonialism, these essays are a
fierce and incisive exploration of the issues that a patriarchal
culture will not necessarily acknowledge as 'issues' at all. With
grace, wit and energy, and in the most exquisite and inviting of
prose, Rebecca Solnit proves herself a vital leading figure of the
feminist movement and a radical, humane thinker. 'Solnit is a
compelling writer with a glorious turn of phrase' Evening Standard
An ardent steward of the land, fearless traveller and unrivalled
observer of nature and culture, Barry Lopez died after a long
illness on Christmas Day in 2020. The previous summer, a wildfire
had consumed much of what was dear to him in his home and the
community around it - a tragic reminder of the climate change of
which he'd long warned. At once a cri de Coeur and a memoir of both
pain and wonder, this remarkable collection of essays adds
indelibly to Lopez's legacy, and includes previously unpublished
works, some written in the months before his death. They unspool
memories, both personal and political, among them tender, sometimes
painful stories of his childhood in New York and California,
reports from expeditions to study animals and sea life,
recollections of travels to Antarctica and other extraordinary
places on earth, and mediations on finding oneself amid vast,
dramatic landscapes. He reflects on those who taught him, including
Indigenous elders and scientific mentors who sharpened his eye for
the natural world. We witness poignant returns from his travels to
the sanctuary of his Oregon backyard and in prose of searing
candour, he reckons with the cycle of life, including own and - as
he has done throughout his career - with the dangers the earth and
its people are facing. With an introduction by Rebecca Solnit that
speaks to Lopez's keen attention to the world, including its
spiritual dimensions, Embrace Fearlessly the Burning World opens
our minds and sounds to the important of being wholly present to
the beauty and complexity of life.
A reissue of the profound and meandering modern classic about the
historical, political and philosophical paths traced by walkers.
What does it mean to be out walking in the world? From pilgrimages
to protest marches, mountaineering to meandering, this modern
classic weaves together numerous histories to trace a range of
possibilities for this most basic act. Touching on the philosophers
of Ancient Greece, the Romantic poets, Jane Austen's Elizabeth
Bennett, Andre Breton's Nadja, and more, Rebecca Solnit considers
what forms of pleasure and freedom walkers have sought at different
times. Profound and provocative, Wanderlust invites us to look
afresh at the rich, varied, often radical interplay of the body,
the imagination, and the world when walking. "Radical, humane,
witty, sometimes wonderfully dandyish, at other times, impassioned
and serious" - Alain de Botton
'I loved this book... An exhilarating romp through Orwell's life
and times' Margaret Atwood 'Expansive and thought-provoking'
Independent Outside my work the thing I care most about is
gardening - George Orwell Inspired by her encounter with the
surviving roses that Orwell is said to have planted in his cottage
in Hertfordshire, Rebecca Solnit explores how his involvement with
plants, particularly flowers, illuminates his other commitments as
a writer and antifascist, and the intertwined politics of nature
and power. Following his journey from the coal mines of England to
taking up arms in the Spanish Civil War; from his prescient
critique of Stalin to his analysis of the relationship between lies
and authoritarianism, Solnit finds a more hopeful Orwell, whose
love of nature pulses through his work and actions. And in her
dialogue with the author, she makes fascinating forays into
colonial legacies in the flower garden, discovers photographer Tina
Modotti's roses, reveals Stalin's obsession with growing lemons in
impossibly cold conditions, and exposes the brutal rose industry in
Colombia. A fresh reading of a towering figure of the 20th century
which finds solace and solutions for the political and
environmental challenges we face today, Orwell's Roses is a
remarkable reflection on pleasure, beauty, and joy as acts of
resistance. 'Luminous...It is efflorescent, a study that seeds and
blooms, propagates thoughts, and tends to historical associations'
New Statesman 'A genuinely extraordinary mind, whose curiosity,
intelligence and willingness to learn seem unbounded' Irish Times
In this investigation into loss, losing and being lost, Rebecca
Solnit explores the challenges of living with uncertainty. A Field
Guide to Getting Lost takes in subjects as eclectic as memory and
mapmaking, Hitchcock movies and Renaissance painting. Beautifully
written, this book combines memoir, history and philosophy,
shedding glittering new light on the way we live now.
In 1981, Rebecca Solnit rented a studio apartment in San Francisco,
her home for the next twenty-five years. There she began the
process of forging a voice in a society that preferred women to be
silent. Liberated by West Coast activism, growing gay pride and
punk rock, she broke through oppression and over time transformed
into a writer and activist who speaks for the marginalised -
galvanised to use her own voice for change. Recollections of My
Non-Existence is the landmark memoir from a voice of a generation,
and a rally cry for generations to come.
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The Last Man
Mary Shelley; Introduction by John Havard; Foreword by Rebecca Solnit
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Londoners Reni Eddo-Lodge and Emma Watson are collaborating with
author Rebecca Solnit and geographer Joshua Jelly-Schapiro to
reimagine London's classic tube map. The new public history project
'City of London Women' will redraw Transport for London's classic
underground map by naming each stop after a woman, non-binary
person or a group. By consulting with artists, historians,
community organizers and others through an open call, the project
aims to identify remarkable female or non-binary Londoners who have
had an impact on the city's history in some way. It will allocate
them to each of the stations depicted on the London tube map
according to their connections to a local area. Some of these
people might be household names, others might be unsung heroes or
figures from London's hidden histories. The names might be drawn
from arts, civil society, business, politics, sport and so on.
Attractively produced and packaged as a large poster map, this will
be an ideal gift item that will find a place in museums and art
stores as well as bookshops across London and beyond.
In her comic, scathing essay "Men Explain Things to Me," Rebecca
Solnit took on what often goes wrong in conversations between men
and women. She wrote about men who wrongly assume they know things
and wrongly assume women don't, about why this arises, and how this
aspect of the gender wars works, airing some of her own hilariously
awful encounters.
She ends on a serious note-- because the ultimate problem is the
silencing of women who have something to say, including those
saying things like, "He's trying to kill me "
This book features that now-classic essay with six perfect
complements, including an examination of the great feminist writer
Virginia Woolf 's embrace of mystery, of not knowing, of doubt and
ambiguity, a highly original inquiry into marriage equality, and a
terrifying survey of the scope of contemporary violence against
women.
At a time when political, environmental and social gloom can seem
overpowering, this remarkable book offers a lucid, affirmative and
well-argued case for hope. This exquisite work traces a history of
activism and social change over the past five decades - from the
fall of the Berlin Wall to the worldwide marches against the war in
Iraq. Hope in the Dark is a paean to optimism in the uncertainty of
the twenty-first century. Tracing the footsteps of the last
century's thinkers - including Woolf, Gandhi, Borges, Benjamin and
Havel - Solnit conjures a timeless vision of cause and effect that
will light our way through the dark, and lead us to profound and
effective political engagement.
An energizing case for hope about the climate, from Rebecca Solnit
("the voice of the resistance"-New York Times), climate activist
Thelma Young Lutunatabua, and a chorus of voices calling on us to
rise to the moment. Not Too Late is the book for anyone who is
despondent, anxious, or unsure about climate change and seeking
answers. As the contributors to this volume make clear, the future
will be decided by whether we act in the present-and we must act to
counter institutional inertia, fossil fuel interests, and political
obduracy. These dispatches from the climate movement around the
world feature the voices of organizers like Guam-based lawyer and
writer Julian Aguon; climate scientists like Dr. Jacquelyn Gill and
Dr. Edward Carr; poets like Marshall Islands activist Kathy
Jetnil-Kijner; and longtime organizers like The Tyranny of Oil
author Antonia Juhasz and Emergent Strategy author adrienne maree
brown. Guided by Rebecca Solnit's typical clear-eyed wisdom and
enriched by illustrations, Not Too Late leads readers from
discouragement to possibilities, from climate despair to climate
hope. Contributors include Julian Aguon, Jade Begay, adrienne maree
brown, Edward Carr, Renato Redantor Constantino, Joelle Gergis,
Jacquelyn Gill, Mary Annaise Heglar, Mary Ann Hitt, Roshi Joan
Halifax, Nikayla Jefferson, Antonia Juhasz, Kathy Jetnil Kijiner,
Fenton Lutunatabua & Joseph `Sikulu, Yotam Marom, Denali
Nalamalapu, Leah Stokes, Farhana Sultana, and Gloria Walton.
In times of crisis, when institutions of power are laid bare,
people turn to one another. Pandemic Solidarity collects firsthand
experiences from around the world of people creating their own
narratives of solidarity and mutual aid in the time of the global
crisis of Covid-19. The world's media was quick to weave a
narrative of selfish individualism, full of empty supermarket
shelves and con-men. However, if you scratch the surface, you find
a different story of community and self-sacrifice. Looking at
eighteen countries and regions, including India, Rojava, Taiwan,
South Africa, Iraq and North America, the personal accounts in the
book weave together to create a larger picture, revealing a
universality of experience - a housewife in Istanbul supports her
neighbour in the same way as a teacher in Argentina, a punk in
Portland, and a disability activist in South Korea does. Moving
beyond the present, these stories reveal what an alternative
society could look like, and reflect the skills and relationships
we already have to create that society, challenging institutions of
power that have already shown their fragility.
"This is a reminder of hope and possibility, of kindness and
compassion, and--perhaps most salient--imagination and liberty.
Through the imaginations of our childhoods, can we find our true
selves liberated in adulthood?" --Chelsea Handler In her debut
children's book, Rebecca Solnit reimagines a classic fairytale with
a fresh, feminist Cinderella and new plot twists that will inspire
young readers to change the world, featuring gorgeous silhouettes
from Arthur Rackham on each page. In this modern twist on the
classic story, Cinderella, who would rather just be Ella, meets her
fairy godmother, goes to a ball, and makes friends with a prince.
But that is where the familiar story ends. Instead of waiting to be
rescued, Cinderella learns that she can save herself and those
around her by being true to herself and standing up for what she
believes. Rebecca Solnit is the author of more than twenty books
including Men Explain Things to Me, Call Them by Their True Names,
Hope in the Dark, and The Mother of All Questions. Arthur Rackham
(1867-1939) was a prominent British illustrator of many classic
children's books from The Fairy Tales of the Brothers Grimm to
Sleeping Beauty. His watercolor silhouettes were featured in the
original edition of Cinderella.
Following on from the success of Men Explain Things to Me comes a
new collection of essays in which Rebecca Solnit opens up a
feminism for all of us: one that doesn't stigmatize women's lives,
whether they include spouses and children or not; that brings
empathy to the silences in men's lives as well as the silencing of
women's lives; celebrates the ways feminism has shifted in recent
years to reclaim rape jokes, revise canons, and rethink our
everyday lives.
An energizing case for hope about the climate, from Rebecca Solnit
("the voice of the resistance"-New York Times), climate activist
Thelma Young Lutunatabua, and a chorus of voices calling on us to
rise to the moment. Not Too Late is the book for anyone who is
despondent, defeatist, or unsure about climate change and seeking
answers. As the contributors to this volume make clear, the future
will be decided by whether we act in the present-and we must act to
counter institutional inertia, fossil fuel interests, and political
obduracy. These dispatches from the climate movement around the
world feature the voices of organizers like Guam-based lawyer and
writer Julian Aguon; climate scientists like Dr. Jacquelyn Gill and
Dr. Edward Carr; poets like Marshall Islands activist Kathy
Jetnil-Kijner; and longtime organizers like The Tyranny of Oil
author Antonia Juhasz. Guided by Rebecca Solnit's typical
clear-eyed wisdom and enriched by photographs and quotes, Not Too
Late leads readers from discouragement to possibilities, from
climate despair to climate hope.
Finalist for the National Book Critics Circle Award for Nonfiction
Finalist for the PEN/Jacqueline Bograd Weld Award for Biography "An
exhilarating romp through Orwell's life and times and also through
the life and times of roses." -Margaret Atwood "A captivating
account of Orwell as gardener, lover, parent, and endlessly curious
thinker." -Claire Messud, Harper's "Nobody who reads it will ever
think of Nineteen Eighty-Four in quite the same way." -Vogue A lush
exploration of politics, roses, and pleasure, and a fresh take on
George Orwell as an avid gardener whose political writing was
grounded by his passion for the natural world "In the spring of
1936, a writer planted roses." So be-gins Rebecca Solnit's new
book, a reflection on George Orwell's passionate gardening and the
way that his involvement with plants, particularly flowers,
illuminates his other commitments as a writer and antifascist, and
on the intertwined politics of nature and power. Sparked by her
unexpected encounter with the roses he reportedly planted in 1936,
Solnit's account of this overlooked aspect of Orwell's life
journeys through his writing and his actions-from going deep into
the coal mines of England, fighting in the Spanish Civil War,
critiquing Stalin when much of the international left still
supported him (and then critiquing that left) to his analysis of
the relationship between lies and authoritarianism. Through
Solnit's celebrated ability to draw unexpected connections, readers
are drawn onward from Orwell's own work as a writer and gardener to
encounter photographer Tina Modotti's roses and her politics,
agriculture and illusion in the USSR of his time with forcing
lemons to grow in impossibly cold conditions, Orwell's slave-owning
ancestors in Jamaica, Jamaica Kincaid's examination of colonialism
and imperialism in the flower garden, and the brutal rose industry
in Colombia that supplies the American market. The book draws to a
close with a rereading of Nineteen Eighty-Four that completes
Solnit's portrait of a more hopeful Orwell, as well as offering a
meditation on pleasure, beauty, and joy as acts of resistance.
Shortlisted for the James Tait Black Prize for Biography Longlisted
for The Orwell Prize for Political Writing An electric portrait of
the artist as a young woman that asks how a writer finds her voice
in a society that prefers women to be silent, from the author of
Orwell's Roses In Recollections of My Nonexistence, Rebecca Solnit
describes her formation as a writer and as a feminist in 1980s San
Francisco, in an atmosphere of gender violence on the street and
throughout society and the exclusion of women from cultural arenas.
She tells of being poor, hopeful, and adrift in the city that
became her great teacher, and of the small apartment that, when she
was nineteen, became the home in which she transformed herself. She
explores the forces that liberated her as a person and as a
writer--books themselves; the gay community that presented a new
model of what else gender, family, and joy could mean; and her
eventual arrival in the spacious landscapes and overlooked
conflicts of the American West. Beyond being a memoir, Solnit's
book is also a passionate argument: that women are not just
impacted by personal experience, but by membership in a society
where violence against women pervades. Looking back, she describes
how she came to recognize that her own experiences of harassment
and menace were inseparable from the systemic problem of who has a
voice, or rather who is heard and respected and who is
silenced--and how she was galvanized to use her own voice for
change.
"The freshest, deepest, most optimistic account of human nature
I've come across in years."
-Bill McKibben
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.
Who gets to shape the narrative of our times? The current moment is
a battle over that foundational power. Women, people of colour and
non-straight people are telling other versions, and white men in
particular are fighting to preserve their own centrality. In this
outstanding collection of essays by one of the most prescient and
insightful commentators today, Solnit appraises the voices that are
emerging, why they matter and the obstacles they face in making
themselves heard.
Beginning with the election of Donald Trump ("The Loneliest Man in
the World") and expanding back and forth into American history,
surveillance, violence against the individual, the denormalizing of
misogyny and the rehumanizing of public space. The ultimate focus
of the book is climate and feminist activism, bringing Solnit's
trademark deep analysis to bear on a range of contemporary crises.
And again, and spectacularly, she shows us how to hope.
Whether she is contemplating the history of walking as a cultural
and political experience over the past two hundred years
("Wanderlust"), or using the life of photographer Eadweard
Muybridge as a lens to discuss the transformations of space and
time in late nineteenth-century America ("River of Shadows"),
Rebecca Solnit has emerged as an inventive and original writer
whose mind is daring in the connections it makes. "A Field Guide to
Getting Lost" draws on emblematic moments and relationships in
Solnitas own life to explore the issues of wandering, being lost,
and the uses of the unknown. The result is a distinctive,
stimulating, and poignant voyage of discovery. BACKCOVER: aA
meditation on the pleasures and terrors of getting losta
a"The New Yorker"
aThis indispensable California writeras most personal book
yet.a
a"San Francisco Chronicle"
aAn intriguing amalgam of personal memoir, philosophical
speculation, natural lore, cultural history, and art criticism . .
. a book to set you wandering down strangely fruitful trails of
thought.a
a"Los Angeles Times"
In times of crisis, when institutions of power are laid bare,
people turn to one another. Pandemic Solidarity collects firsthand
experiences from around the world of people creating their own
narratives of solidarity and mutual aid in the time of the global
crisis of Covid-19. The world’s media was quick to weave a
narrative of selfish individualism, full of empty supermarket
shelves and con-men. However, if you scratch the surface, you find
a different story of community and self-sacrifice. Looking at
eighteen countries and regions, including India, Rojava, Taiwan,
South Africa, Iraq and North America, the personal accounts in the
book weave together to create a larger picture, revealing a
universality of experience - a housewife in Istanbul supports her
neighbour in the same way as a teacher in Argentina, a punk in
Portland, and a disability activist in South Korea does. Moving
beyond the present, these stories reveal what an alternative
society could look like, and reflect the skills and relationships
we already have to create that society, challenging institutions of
power that have already shown their fragility.
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