Chasing Eden: A Book of Seekers

Chasing Eden is about seekers, Americans searching for their Eden, longing for a Promised Land, a utopia somewhere out on the horizon. With his usual deep perception, humor, and grace, Howard Mansfield writes about “a small gathering of Americans” united by longing and devotion in their search for something perfect here on earth, a goal that is ever receding. Mansfield illuminates how this longing—for God, for freedom, for peace—can be found in every era, and gives form and force to our lives in our pursuit of happiness—“the primary occupation of every American.”\nFrom the Back Cover\nIn 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
Many of us are content to lead our lives unconcerned with the big
questions our short time on this earth constantly pose. This book
focuses on those who do search--relentlessly--for meaning.
--Ken Burns, documentary filmmaker
Howard Mansfield journeys into stories in the same way one sets out
to climb a mountain: with care and preparation. He is the most
insightful of historians and journalists, and there are stories here, and
reflections, that will leave you gobsmacked as to how you could have
gone this long without hearing them, and holding them dear. The Eden
that Mansfield is chasing is less a place than a promise--but no matter,
Chasing Eden is necessary reading for anyone with a mind, a heart, and
a conscience.
--J.C. Hallman, author of In Utopia: Six Kinds of Eden
and the Search for a Better Paradise