{"product_id":"heaven-is-a-place-on-adrian-shirk-9781640093577","title":"Heaven Is a Place on Earth: Searching for an American Utopia","description":"\u003cb\u003eAn exploration of American ideas of utopia through the lens of one millennial's quest to live a more communal life under late-stage capitalism\u003c\/b\u003e \u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003eTold in a series of essays that balance memoir with fieldwork, \u003ci\u003eHeaven Is a Place on Earth\u003c\/i\u003e is an idiosyncratic study of American utopian experiments--from the Shakers to the radical faerie communes of Short Mountain to the Bronx rebuilding movement--through the lens of one woman's quest to create a more communal life in a time of unending economic and social precarity. \u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003eWhen Adrian Shirk's father-in-law has a stroke and loses his ability to speak and walk, she and her husband--both adjuncts in their midtwenties--become his primary caretakers. The stress of these new responsibilities, coupled with navigating America's broken health-care system and ordinary twenty-first-century financial insecurity, propels Shirk into an odyssey through the history and present of American utopian experiments in the hope that they might offer a way forward. \u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003eAlong the way, Shirk seeks solace in her own community of friends, artists, and theologians. They try to imagine a different kind of life, examining what might be replicable within the histories of utopia-making, and what might be doomed. Rather than \"no place,\" Shirk reframes utopia as something that, according to the laws of capital and conquest, shouldn't be able to exist--but does anyway, if only for a moment.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eAuthor:\u003c\/b\u003e Adrian Shirk\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eISBN-10:\u003c\/b\u003e 1640093575\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eISBN-13:\u003c\/b\u003e 9781640093577\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003ePublisher:\u003c\/b\u003e Counterpoint LLC\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eLanguage:\u003c\/b\u003e English\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003ePublished:\u003c\/b\u003e 12\/05\/2023\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003ePages:\u003c\/b\u003e 352\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eFormat:\u003c\/b\u003e Paperback\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eWeight:\u003c\/b\u003e 1.01lbs\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eSize:\u003c\/b\u003e 8.73h x 5.80w x 0.69d","brand":"Adrian Shirk","offers":[{"title":"Paperback","offer_id":44073090679039,"sku":"9781640093577","price":17.95,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0662\/2982\/9887\/files\/img_9a8a7e6a-4938-4ecb-a767-839b00c83381.jpg?v=1685445756","url":"https:\/\/www.whiterainbookhouse.com\/products\/heaven-is-a-place-on-adrian-shirk-9781640093577","provider":"WR Book House","version":"1.0","type":"link"}