2011-25 - A Paradise Built in Hell, by Rebecca Solnit

25 - A Paradise Built in Hell, by Rebecca Solnit, 313 Pages, 2009.
WHY I PICKED IT: Johan Hari recommended it in an article he wrote for The Independent
ELAPSED TIME: 7 days.
RATING: Meh.

The basic premise of this book is fairly simple: In disasters people are more likely to help their neighbor, than take advantage of them.  She goes on to postulate that the rich and the establishment are likely to fail to see that, and treat citizens like potential risks.

Solnit shares well researched examples from the 1906 earthquake in San Fransisco, the 1917 explosion in Halifax, the 1985 Mexico City earthquake, the 2001 terrorist attacks in New York City, and the 2005 Hurricane Katrina that hit New Orleans... in all of these cases, a majority of the citizenry stepped up and shared what they had to all that needed it... and in several of these cases, the rich where unused to the egalitarian utopia and used the government to exercise control where none was necessary.

- From San Fransisco, the story of the family that started a soup kitchen because their stove worked (and the butcher that gave them free food to keep it open).
- From Halifax, the radio operators who stayed at their station, to save the lives of the passengers of trains coming into town.  Also the sailor who lay on top of a mother and baby to take the blast himself, and save their lives.
- From Katrina, the fact that when the white people broke into shops they were "securing provisions," but the black people doing the same thing were "looting."  In a disaster, there usually isn't someone available to give your money to, and you may not have any... but it's a disaster, and the goods are needed.  In fact, in many cases, the police were breaking in and requisitioning the goods themselves (as was required!).


Unfortunately, between most of these great anecdotes are many more (somewhat superfluous ones), and this makes the book drag on and on (and on and on).  Had this book been 125 pages shorter, I would have rated it Very Good.  As it stands, it's worth a skim read, but not much more.