Rebecca Solnit

Rebecca Solnit unearths the roots of our contemporary crises, countering the despair of our age with a dose of solidarity, creativity, and hope.

American Crises (and Essays)

Call Them by Their True Names

Heather Margaret

"Michel Foucault noted, "People know what they do; frequently they know why they do what they do; but what they don't know is what they do does." You do what you can. What you've done may do more than you can imagine for generations to come. You plant a seed, and a tree grows from it; will there be fruit, shade, habitat for birds, more seeds, a forest, wood to build a cradle or a house? You don't know. A tree can live much longer than you. So will an idea, and sometimes the changes that result from accepting that new idea about what is true, or right, just might remake the world. You do what you can do; you do your best; what you do does is not up to you."

I love Rebecca's little books full of huge stories and facts. I especially love it with the atmosphere that we are all living through and a lot more people have been woken up to notice. The essays are meant to hit your heart and brain leaving you using both your knowledge and feelings together.

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.

Neva Davies

An excellent collection of essays looking at serious problems

There are three essays that I really appreciated: Facing The Furies, Preaching to The Choir, Death By Gentrification. Each of these essays really looked at politics and life in a way that humanizes the people who are the most likely to get hurt, and to remind us that while anger has its place, that anger is a double edged sword. This is a collection of essays that I really recommend everyone should read!

Call Them by Their True Names American Crises (and Essays)

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