Leo T. reviewed A Paradise Built in Hell: The Extraordinary Communities That Arise in Disaster on + 1775 more book reviews
This is a quite scholarly book. Ms. Solnitz is an optimist. "In the wake of an earthquake, a bombing, or a major storm, most people are altruistic."
She finds that while people tend to be resilient in a disaster, the other two factors that affect the response can greatly affect the effort: the nature of the media coverage and the attitudes of those in power.
While various events are mentioned, the emphasis is on SF in 1906, Halifax 1917, Mexico City 1985, and 9/11. I myself have read the 'prelude' and into the SF Earthquake while on a long bus ride. There is an index and endnotes, the latter being very useful if one wants to read more from the newspaper, book, or website cited.
This book is not especially suitable as additional material in a high school history class emphasizing reading because a fair amount of what she offers in asides would be lost if an interested group of students were choosing a section to read and discuss (without reading the rest of the book). In addition, the well chosen anecdotes she uses to make her points about the SF disaster are followed by considerable discussion of Wm. James. The employment of Dorothy Day's anarchist thoughts in meeting the demands of the Depression in 1933 is clever--she was an 8 year old in Oakland on 18 April 1906.
There are many examples of the egalitarian nature of getting by after the earthquake.
I am 'from Missouri' on whether the author can do as fine a job as Poniatowksa (Nothing, Nobody) on the 1985 Mexico City disaster.
I pulled the book Saturday after weeks on the shelf at the old soldiers' home--we have few readers. There are 17 wishes and I can't tell how long people have been waiting so am unsure what do do: I found this copy to be readable but it is ex-library, with usual markings, otherwise good, a discard from Santa Monica Public Library but hard read by many and includes spills on the part of the fore edge, etc. In such cases I like to include for free a book that is wish listed by several comrades so the recipient of the dubious book that they want to read can both read what they wanted and reclaim their credit by fulfilling someone's wish with the free book. I posted it and immediately sent an email with my concerns. The first on the wish list sat on it until it expired in two days, but the second took it up; I included for free a VG copy of Stevenson's Just Mercy (136 wishes) so that ended well. Paradise is a significant book and the first two on the wish list have been waiting five long years.
She finds that while people tend to be resilient in a disaster, the other two factors that affect the response can greatly affect the effort: the nature of the media coverage and the attitudes of those in power.
While various events are mentioned, the emphasis is on SF in 1906, Halifax 1917, Mexico City 1985, and 9/11. I myself have read the 'prelude' and into the SF Earthquake while on a long bus ride. There is an index and endnotes, the latter being very useful if one wants to read more from the newspaper, book, or website cited.
This book is not especially suitable as additional material in a high school history class emphasizing reading because a fair amount of what she offers in asides would be lost if an interested group of students were choosing a section to read and discuss (without reading the rest of the book). In addition, the well chosen anecdotes she uses to make her points about the SF disaster are followed by considerable discussion of Wm. James. The employment of Dorothy Day's anarchist thoughts in meeting the demands of the Depression in 1933 is clever--she was an 8 year old in Oakland on 18 April 1906.
There are many examples of the egalitarian nature of getting by after the earthquake.
I am 'from Missouri' on whether the author can do as fine a job as Poniatowksa (Nothing, Nobody) on the 1985 Mexico City disaster.
I pulled the book Saturday after weeks on the shelf at the old soldiers' home--we have few readers. There are 17 wishes and I can't tell how long people have been waiting so am unsure what do do: I found this copy to be readable but it is ex-library, with usual markings, otherwise good, a discard from Santa Monica Public Library but hard read by many and includes spills on the part of the fore edge, etc. In such cases I like to include for free a book that is wish listed by several comrades so the recipient of the dubious book that they want to read can both read what they wanted and reclaim their credit by fulfilling someone's wish with the free book. I posted it and immediately sent an email with my concerns. The first on the wish list sat on it until it expired in two days, but the second took it up; I included for free a VG copy of Stevenson's Just Mercy (136 wishes) so that ended well. Paradise is a significant book and the first two on the wish list have been waiting five long years.
