Hope in the Dark: Untold Histories, Wild Possibilities Summary
Rebecca Solnit

Hope in the Dark: Untold Histories, Wild Possibilities Overview

Rebecca Solnit's nonfiction collection of anecdotes, meditations, and assessments of sociopolitical changes aims to provide an alternative narrative to the feelings of pessimism and despair that pervaded American society when the book was originally published in 2004. Now, the text has been updated with extra chapters that address the years since the Bush Administration, but the collection as a whole remains relevant for any readers looking to hear stories not normally told; Solnit broadens the perspective of what it means to "change the world" by considering active revolutions across the globe, including pursuits of political, economic, social, and environmental activism. Beginning with the assertion by Virginia Woolf in 1915 that "the future is dark," Solnit attempts to redefine what "darkness" itself means and to encourage her readers to forego passive despair in favor of active, effective hope.