A Paradise Built in Hell
A Paradise Built in Hell by Rebecca Solnitby Rebecca Solnit
Shares rank 77 of 142 nonfiction books by recommenders
People recommend it for its account of how communities care for each other in disasters, and why they rarely turn on themselves.
3 people recommended A Paradise Built in Hell by Rebecca Solnit in Hacker News comments and none criticized it, November 2025 to October 2026.
Summary written by Claude from 2 comments.
3 people gave an opinion
- recommend it
- 3
- mixed feelings
- 0
- warn against or regret it
- 0
The record
Recommended in 3 of 12 months
In 3 different threads.
- November 2025: not recommended
- December 2025: not recommended
- January 2026: not recommended
- February 2026: recommended
- March 2026: not recommended
- April 2026: not recommended
- May 2026: recommended
- June 2026: recommended
- July 2026: not recommended
- August 2026: not recommended
- September 2026: not recommended
- October 2026: not recommended
Why it doesn’t carry the badge
- 3 people recommend itNeeds 10 or more, not met.
- Nobody criticizes itNeeds 2 to 1 or better, met.
- Recommended in 3 of 12 monthsNeeds 4 or more, not met.
- Recommended in 3 threadsNeeds 5 or more, not met.
- The biggest thread supplies 33% of its recommendersNeeds half or less, met.
The same rules apply to every product, and the badge can’t be bought. Mixed feelings count toward neither side. How the badge works
What people say about it
Reasons grouped from a sample of 2 of the 3 opinions about it, picked in proportion to how many people recommend it, have mixed feelings and criticize it. Each mark is one comment in the sample. Open a reason to read what they said.
Why people recommend it
Each mark is one comment
Shows communities caring for each other
“Read "A Paradise Built in Hell", when push comes to shove, communities care for each other.”
Comment from 7 Jun 2026 in “An Ohio Valley 100k-Watt FM Signal Is Severed in Broad Daylight – Radio World” Argues disasters don't turn communities on themselves
“In disasters, it never benefits a community to turn on itself.”
Comment from 28 Feb 2026 in “The normalization of corruption in organizations (2003) [pdf]”
Other nonfiction books people recommend
The four most recommended other nonfiction books, with the same counts for each, so you can compare like for like. The tick on each bar marks the 2 to 1 line the badge needs.
| Product | Recommend | Mixed | Criticize | Approval | Months | Had for | Badge |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| The Cuckoo's Eggby Cliff Stoll | 38 | 1 | 0 | 100% | 8 | — | Approved |
| Amusing Ourselves to Deathby Neil Postman | 30 | 5 | 0 | 100% | 9 | — | Approved |
| The Anxious Generationby Jonathan Haidt | 21 | 1 | 11 | 66% | 9 | — | — |
| Enshittificationby Cory Doctorow | 18 | 1 | 1 | 95% | 9 | — | Approved |
| A Paradise Built in Hellby Rebecca SolnitThis page | 3 | 0 | 0 | 100% | 3 | — | — |
Also compared with Masters of Doom by David Kushner, Bullshit Jobs by David Graeber, Apple in China by Patrick McGee and If Anyone Builds It, Everyone Dies by Eliezer Yudkowsky and Nate Soares.
What people said
2 of the 3 opinions about it, picked in proportion to the three counts, newest first. Each links to the original comment.
“Read "A Paradise Built in Hell", when push comes to shove, communities care for each other.”
“In disasters, it never benefits a community to turn on itself.”
Counts come from 1,791,911 Hacker News comments labeled by Claude, November 2025 to October 2026, with data through October 31, 2026. Counts updated 2 Nov 2026. How we count. Report a mistake.