September 8, 2009

This September 11, among the aspects of the tragedy of 2001 that might be worth considering: the tremendous sense of civic spirit and altruism that emerged in the hours, days, and weeks after the attacks.

That theme is evident in a new book, out this month from Rebecca Solnit, A Paradise Built in Hell: The Extraordinary Communities That Arise in Disaster, in which she discusses community action in the aftermath of various calamities (the 1906 San Francisco earthquake, 9/11, Hurricane Katrina, among them).

To listen to an excerpt of Solnit reading from the book, visit VanityFair.com.