Hope in the Dark

Untold Histories, Wild Possibilities

By: Rebecca Solnit

Narrated by: Tanya Eby

Length: 5 hrs and 36 mins

Publisher's summary

With Hope in the Dark, Rebecca Solnit makes a radical case for hope as a commitment to act in a world whose future remains uncertain and unknowable. Drawing on her decades of activism and a wide knowledge of environmental, cultural, and political history, Solnit argues that radicals have a long, neglected history of transformative victories, that the positive consequences of our acts are not always immediately seen, directly knowable, or even measurable, and that pessimism and despair rest on an unwarranted confidence about what is going to happen next. Originally published in 2004, now with a new foreword and afterword, Solnit's influential book shines a light into the darkness of our time in an unforgettable new edition.

©2016 Rebecca Solnit (P)2017 Tantor

Critic reviews

"An inspired observer and passionate historian, Solnit, whose River of Shadows (2003) won a National Book Critics Circle Award, is one of the most creative, penetrating, and eloquent cultural critics writing today." ( Booklist)

Truly awful narrator

The book is informative and engaging. I have purchased it in print to finish. The narration is absolutely terrible- like turning on an automated text reader on your computer. Really really bad.

Another beautiful look at life via activism

I adore this woman’s contribution to the world so much, and I appreciate this book in the expanse of all she stands for and sees and wants for the world. I notice i tend to personally enjoying the stories that lean more abstract and artful more frequently but I am certainly enriched as a human for digesting this yummy treat. Especially enjoyed the revisit to Paradise Made In Hell, the visual walk thru SF a home I miss so much, and the silver thread throughout to see the blessings and xall to action in the very gift of life on this planet with everyone else. Thank you for including the LGBT historical points and disaster starshine as part of a normalized context of looking at stuff, not an exceptionalized highlighted oddity.

Helpful

In a time that often feels hopeless to me, Rebecca’s work helped me see other options.

Fierce, fearless and empowering

As a climate activist for more than 6 years this is one of the best books about untold history and how to communicate courage, hope and joy. Rebecca looked at crises from a longer view of time and wider perspective of movements. I will come back to it again and again.

Galvanizing

I spent years assuming I knew roughly what was in this book, but finally reading it has changed my life. Solnit helped me make sense of activism, hope and despair. It’s also a wryly funny book. Five stars for Solnit’s amazing book, zero stars for the publishers who chose a narrator who makes it all sound like an uplifting tampon commercial and can’t pronounce key terms like “transnational.”

Trump Notwithstanding

This book is a little behind after tfg, but the points are valid & worthwhile. So many of us in middle-class suburbia just aren't sure where to start resisting the oligarchy Republicans are working hard to impose.

Hope indeed!

We all need this book! We need Rebecca Solnit's stories; we need her perspective; we need her hope and our own sense of empowerment! I cheer her forward, and feel determined to "give up the teddy bear of despair," determined to keep figuring out how to be an effective activist!

Amazing

There are at least 2 sides to every story and we can choose what to focus on. This book shares some victory stories of social change movements over the years. Read this to get a better perspective on global affairs and individuals’ impact on history

Eye roll

I am a boomer and have been an activist at times, even participating in some of the protests and events Rebecca talks about.
Reading this book 5 to 10 years ago might have been a better experience than now, late 2022.
I admit, I gave up at around 1/3 in—it felt so milquetoast, Pollyanna, irrelevant, rose-colored glasses. I could not bear more eye roll moments.
I’d heard good things about Hope in the Dark. I was disappointed to find mostly ungrounded unrealistic perspective, promise, and positivity.
Still, it was a valiant effort by Ms. Solnit and I might look for more recent work or even podcasts she has been involved with.