Chasing Eden: A Book of Seekers

By: Howard Mansfield

Narrated by: Howard Mansfield

Length: 6 hrs and 34 mins

Publisher's summary

When Thomas Jefferson committed the new nation to the “pursuit of happiness” he set up the primary occupation of every American. Chasing Eden: A Book of Seekers is about that pursuit, about Americans seeking their Eden, their Promised Land, their utopia out on the horizon - which by definition, is ever receding before us.

Seekers are all around us. They are seeking God, seeking freedom, seeking peace. In Chasing Eden we meet a gathering of Americans - the Shakers in the twilight of their utopia; the Wampanoags confronting the Pilgrims; the God-besotted landscape painters who taught Americans that in wilderness was Eden; and 40,000 Africans newly freed from slavery granted 40 acres and a mule - only to be swiftly dispossessed. These and other seekers were on the road to find out, all united by their longing to find in America “a revolution of the spirit".

Howard Mansfield sifts through the commonplace and the forgotten to discover stories that tell us about ourselves and our place in the world. He writes about history, architecture, and preservation. “All of his books are emotionally and intellectually nourishing”, said the writer and critic Guy Davenport. “He is something like a cultural psychologist along with being a first-class cultural historian. He is humane, witty, bright-minded, and rigorously intelligent".

©2021 Howard Mansfield (P)2021 Howard Mansfield

Critic reviews

"In this remarkable book, Howard Mansfield re-mystifies the cold, hard land of the American northeast. He unearths parades of seekers - Shakers who love God and TV, divorced men who haunt the hiking huts of Mount Washington, Pocumtucks who paddle downstream to offer a mercy that will go unreturned. His prose is at turns arresting with its poignancy and laugh-out-loud funny. It’s good to go on this jaunt with him. He has a knack for spotting the wild characters that lead us into the electric realm between memory and hope." (Lulu Miller, author of Why Fish Don’t Exist and co-host of Radiolab)

"An enchanting Journey!"

Howard Mansfield is such a wonderful narrator and his engagement with the subject matter really brings it to life and to a level so readily digestible by an audience, in his latest book, Chasing Eden: A Book of Seekers

 

In many ways, it was genius to start with the Shaker’s story, although one may argue that this was not the true start of the book--but it was most certainly a subject many people know of, without truly knowing much about. This is a very fascinating concept illustrating both how the Shakers, arguably in their final decline, were also at their peak in their seeking; inspiring, joyous, and so very worthy. Their lives were not only dedicated to seeking but also examples of true finding.

 

In so many ways, Howard's explorations have an element of emotional roller-coasterism to them.  Maybe it is that our expectations are being pressed in, curved around the immovable facts of history. Or maybe it is just that part of each and every one of us hopes for a more optimistic and good base for all Humanity--and then we feel emotional churning or full-blown bottom dropping out of one’s stomach feelings when, over and again, it is demonstrated how those assumptions are without ground.

 

The story of Howard's youth and upbringing on Long Island is absolutely enchanting and mesmerizing, both familiar and different, speaking truth beyond generational and socio-economic position. A momentous occasion like the moon landing, something we so often experience only as scratchy archival footage, achieves technicolor vibrancy through the eyes of young Howard. Sharing this moment, trying to take in this amazing ,momentous milestone of technological progress, around conversations of bridemaids dresses, you flee with him, running back to watch the moment on his own TV.  It is so Universal, so intriguing, so identifiable!

 

A wonderful read from cover to cover, which challenges you on every page.  With the Thanksgiving holiday approaching, this is an essential read, diving deeply into the myths and realities surrounding this quintessential American holiday. It is truly a lesson--no, a charge--that all of us should be seekers of our own Edens--which may not be what we expect, but without a doubt what we need.