Overview

Full Product Details

9781640093300

Table of Contents

Reviews

This book could not have come at a better time. At a moment when it can seem as if this country will never put its pieces together, Adrian Shirk gives us so many instances, historical and present-day, of Americans finding ways to live in real community, to carve out places of freedom, to be brave enough to stare our unhappinesses in the face and ask What more could there be? In a voice electric with possibility, Shirk reminds us of the great risk and great possibility contained in the act of reimagining home. -Alex Mar, author of Witches of America As she physically travels all over our country and through some of life's roughest emotional terrain-grief, regret, inadequacy, betrayal, unrequited idealism-Adrian Shirk takes the reader on a rich, lyrical journey of what it feels and looks like to persist in hope. Whether those hopes are in the form of a utopian farm cooperative formed in the 1800s or earnest hipsters gathering in upstate New York, even if you don't share their same dreams Shirk's writing leaves you wanting to treat hope, as she puts it, as a vocation. Heaven is a Place on Earth is not so much a study of utopianism as a meditation. Shirk has a skillful way of weaving together the scraps of seemingly unrelated snippets and insights into a gorgeous quilt of meaning. Utopian-ists want what we all want-fulfillment, happiness, community, but they don't give up when life refuses to deliver. This book is a raw examination of that combination of obsession and grit-and it's masterful. -Kate Kelly, human rights lawyer and author of Ordinary Equality What kind of world will we create in the wake of a global pandemic and armed insurrection, in the midst of climate chaos, systemic racism, and inequity? In Heaven is a Place on Earth, the brilliant Adrian Shirk is looking for an existence that is more than just mere existence, more than 'waged labor,' a life that is less extractive, capitalistic, and crushing. A life that is instead, meaningful, creative, and beautiful. In these pages, I found myself believing such a thing might be possible, and you will too-a testament to Adrian's tremendous power as a writer, intellectual, and human. This is an important book for the moment we find ourselves in. -Cameron Dezen Hammon, author of This Is My Body: A Memoir of Religious and Romantic Obsession

As she physically travels all over our country and through some of life's roughest emotional terrain--grief, regret, inadequacy, betrayal, unrequited idealism--Adrian Shirk takes the reader on a rich, lyrical journey of what it feels and looks like to persist in hope. Whether those hopes are in the form of a utopian farm cooperative formed in the 1800s or earnest hipsters gathering in upstate New York, even if you don't share their same dreams Shirk's writing leaves you wanting to treat hope, as she puts it, as a vocation. Heaven is a Place on Earth is not so much a study of utopianism as a meditation. Shirk has a skillful way of weaving together the scraps of seemingly unrelated snippets and insights into a gorgeous quilt of meaning. Utopian-ists want what we all want--fulfillment, happiness, community, but they don't give up when life refuses to deliver. This book is a raw examination of that combination of obsession and grit--and it's masterful. --Kate Kelly, human rights lawyer and author of Ordinary Equality What kind of world will we create in the wake of a global pandemic and armed insurrection, in the midst of climate chaos, systemic racism, and inequity? In Heaven is a Place on Earth, the brilliant Adrian Shirk is looking for an existence that is more than just mere existence, more than 'waged labor, ' a life that is less extractive, capitalistic, and crushing. A life that is instead, meaningful, creative, and beautiful. In these pages, I found myself believing such a thing might be possible, and you will too--a testament to Adrian's tremendous power as a writer, intellectual, and human. This is an important book for the moment we find ourselves in. --Cameron Dezen Hammon, author of This Is My Body: A Memoir of Religious and Romantic Obsession

Heaven is a Place On Earth is the most beguiling invitation I've received in years. It offers a radically new way of thinking about the radical promises of utopia-one that is dynamic, paradigm-shifting, and, above all else, enthralling. It's an exquisite book, but it's also an open door for all who've been hungering for a new way to think of community and our place within it. -Anne Helen Petersen, author of Can't Even This book could not have come at a better time. At a moment when it can seem as if this country will never put its pieces together, Adrian Shirk gives us so many instances, historical and present-day, of Americans finding ways to live in real community, to carve out places of freedom, to be brave enough to stare our unhappinesses in the face and ask What more could there be? In a voice electric with possibility, Shirk reminds us of the great risk and great possibility contained in the act of reimagining home. -Alex Mar, author of Witches of America As she physically travels all over our country and through some of life's roughest emotional terrain-grief, regret, inadequacy, betrayal, unrequited idealism-Adrian Shirk takes the reader on a rich, lyrical journey of what it feels and looks like to persist in hope. Whether those hopes are in the form of a utopian farm cooperative formed in the 1800s or earnest hipsters gathering in upstate New York, even if you don't share their same dreams Shirk's writing leaves you wanting to treat hope, as she puts it, as a vocation. Heaven is a Place on Earth is not so much a study of utopianism as a meditation. Shirk has a skillful way of weaving together the scraps of seemingly unrelated snippets and insights into a gorgeous quilt of meaning. Utopian-ists want what we all want-fulfillment, happiness, community, but they don't give up when life refuses to deliver. This book is a raw examination of that combination of obsession and grit-and it's masterful. -Kate Kelly, human rights lawyer and author of Ordinary Equality What kind of world will we create in the wake of a global pandemic and armed insurrection, in the midst of climate chaos, systemic racism, and inequity? In Heaven is a Place on Earth, the brilliant Adrian Shirk is looking for an existence that is more than just mere existence, more than 'waged labor,' a life that is less extractive, capitalistic, and crushing. A life that is instead, meaningful, creative, and beautiful. In these pages, I found myself believing such a thing might be possible, and you will too-a testament to Adrian's tremendous power as a writer, intellectual, and human. This is an important book for the moment we find ourselves in. -Cameron Dezen Hammon, author of This Is My Body: A Memoir of Religious and Romantic Obsession

Author Information

ADRIAN SHIRK is an essayist and memoirist. She is the author of And Your Daughters Shall Prophesy, named an NPR Best Book of 2017. Shirk was raised in Portland, Oregon, and has since lived in New York and Wyoming. She is a frequent contributor to Catapult, and her essays have appeared in The Atlantic and Atlas Obscura, among other publications. Currently, she teaches in Pratt Institute’s BFA creative writing program and lives at the Mutual Aid Society in the Catskill Mountains.

Tab Content 6

Countries Available