Paradise Now: The Story of American Utopianism
| Author | : | |
| Rating | : | 4.98 (964 Votes) |
| Asin | : | 0812983890 |
| Format Type | : | paperback |
| Number of Pages | : | 512 Pages |
| Publish Date | : | 2014-01-20 |
| Language | : | English |
DESCRIPTION:
Readers who resent the constraints of a barren realism will value this deep-probing inquiry into the quest for new social possibilities.”—Booklist (starred review) “Jennings proves an able guide to these groups. Bliss! With good humor, a lively style, and a deep knowledge of the historical scholarship, Chris Jennings tells the goofy, heartbreaking tale of nineteenth-century Americans who believed they could bring about heaven on earth, and managed to live out futures that the rest of us haven’t yet reached.”—Caleb Crain, author of Necessary Errors “Despite
A decade later, followers of the French visionary Charles Fourier blanketed America with colonies devoted to inaugurating a new millennium of pleasure and fraternity. Ellis, and Tony Horwitz comes a lively, thought-provoking intellectual history of the golden age of American utopianism—and the bold, revolutionary, and eccentric visions for the future put forward by five of history’s most influential utopian movements. In the wake of the Enlightenment and the onset of industrialism, a generation of dreamers took it upon themselves to confront the messine
Chris Jennings grew up in New York City. He lives in Northern California with his dog. . He graduated from Deep Springs College and Wesleyan University
"Excellent popular history" according to HokieChick. Although it's popular history, this is a serious book -- not superficial or disrespectful of its human subjects. There are some light-hearted passages but the narrative never becomes silly.I had heard of and knew a little about most but not all of these groups but there was plenty of interesting information I had not come across before -- such as . "VERY INSIGHTFUL AND ILLUMINATING" according to George E. Dawson. “It was a time when the imminence of paradise seemed reasonable to reasonable people.” (Kindle Location 1VERY INSIGHTFUL AND ILLUMINATING George E. Dawson “It was a time when the imminence of paradise seemed reasonable to reasonable people.” (Kindle Location 140)I tend to clump stories about “oddball” cultures, cults, communes, and collectives, under the heading of ‘extraordinary popular delusions and the madness of crowds’and am mostly fascinated by them. The out. 0)I tend to clump stories about “oddball” cultures, cults, communes, and collectives, under the heading of ‘extraordinary popular delusions and the madness of crowds’and am mostly fascinated by them. The out. All Utopias Come to Dissolve This took me several months to read because as I finished up each chapter.there was so much rich material and analysis left there.that I devoted some time with other references and books to answer questions I had. It is a remarkable book and full of interesting stories and lots of information. If you ever had a curiosity about utopias and how they