“OneoftheBestBooksofthe21stCentury.“--TheGuardian“Nowriterhasbetterunderstoodthemixoffearandpossibility,perilandexuberancethat’smarkedthisnewmillennium.“--BillMcKibben“Anelegantreminderthatactivistvictoriesareeasilyforgotten,andthattheyoftencomeinextremelyunexpected,roundaboutways.“--TheNewYorkerAbookaspowerfulandinfluentialasRebeccaSolnit’sMenExplainThingstoMe,herHopeintheDarkwaswrittentocounterthedespairofradicalsatamomentwhentheywerefocusedontheirlossesandhadturnedtheirbacktothevictoriesbehindthem--andtheunimaginablechangessoontocome.Init,shemakesaradicalcaseforhopeasacommitmenttoactinaworldwhosefutureremainsuncertainandunknowable.Drawingonherdecadesofactivismandawidereadingofenvironmental,cultural,andpoliticalhistory,Solnitarguedthatradicalshavealong,neglectedhistoryoftransformativevictories,thatthepositiveconsequencesofouractsarenotalwaysimmediatelyseen,directlyknowable,orevenmeasurable,andthatpessimismanddespairrestonanunwarrantedconfidenceaboutwhatisgoingtohappennext.Now,withamovingnewintroductionexplaininghowthebookcameaboutandanewafterwordthathelpsteachushowtohopeandactinourunnervingworld,shebringsanewilluminationtothedarknessof2016inanunforgettableneweditionofthisclassicbook.Writer,historian,andactivistRebeccaSolnitistheauthorofeighteenorsobooksonfeminism,westernandindigenoushistory,popularpower,socialchangeandinsurrection,wanderingandwalking,hopeanddisaster,includingthebooksMenExplainThingstoMeandHopeintheDark,bothalsowithHaymarket;atrilogyofatlasesofAmericancities;TheFarawayNearby;AParadiseBuiltinHell:TheExtraordinaryCommunitiesthatAriseinDisaster;AFieldGuidetoGettingLost;Wanderlust:AHistoryofWalking;andRiverofShadows,EadweardMuybridgeandtheTechnologicalWildWest(forwhichshereceivedaGuggenheim,theNationalBookCriticsCircleAwardincriticism,andtheLannanLiteraryAward).AproductoftheCaliforniapubliceducationsystemfromkindergartentograduateschool,sheisacolumnistatHarper’sandaregularcontributortotheGuardian.
