Paradise Lust: Searching for the Garden of Eden [Hardcover]

Brook Wilensky-Lanford (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: August 2, 2011

It seems that ever since mankind was kicked out of the Garden of Eden for eating the forbidden fruit, we’ve been trying to get back in. Or at least, we’ve been wondering where the Garden might have been. St. Augustine had a theory, and so did medieval monks, John Calvin, and Christopher Columbus. But when Darwin’s theory of evolution permanently altered our understanding of human origins, shouldn’t the search for a literal Eden have faded away? Not so fast.

In Paradise Lust, Brook Wilensky-Lanford introduces readers to the enduring modern quest to locate the Garden of Eden on Earth. It is an obsession that has consumed Mesopotamian archaeologists, German Baptist ministers, British irrigation engineers, and the first president of Boston University, among many others. These quixotic Eden seekers all started with the same brief Bible verses, but each ended up at a different spot on the globe: Florida, the North Pole, Ohio, China, and, of course, Iraq. Evocative of Tony Horwitz and Sarah Vowell, Wilensky-Lanford writes of these unusual characters and their search with sympathy and wit. Charming, enlightening, and utterly unique, Paradise Lust is a century-spanning history that will take you to places you never imagined.

Editorial Reviews

Review

Praise for Paradise Lust

"A pleasure. Wilensky-Lanford tackles her subject with an appealing mix of serious research and tongue-in-cheek humor. Neither too academic nor too whimsical, the storytelling in Paradise Lust is often irresistible." — The New York Times

"Dense, absorbing… [Wilensky-Lanford's] interest in her subject is deep, her narrative is expertly layered, and her interpretations of the seekers’ motives are more than convincing." — Wall Street Journal

"An entertaining history… a thoroughly researched and engaging examination of faith's role in our lives. This is Wilensky-Lanford's first book, and it bodes well for her of-this-world future." — Cleveland Plain Dealer

"Paradise Lust takes us on a fascinating journey - and one that sheds much light on the meaning of biblical literalism. I won't tell you whether or not she finds Eden, but she did find a great topic." — A.J. Jacobs, author of The Year of Living Biblically

"A gloriously researched, pluckily written historical and anecdotal assay of humankind’s age-old quixotic quest for the exact location of the Biblical garden." — Elle

"Witty and exhaustively researched” — Associated Press

"Succeeds in doing what the best one-subject historical studies do, which is to reframe history, freshening up long-familiar events… a celebration of the surprisingly peaceful co-existence of… radically different theories." -San Francisco Chronicle

"Eden’s dream fades, theories are debunked, but new ones sprout as this most original of stories remains timeless." —The New York Journal of Books

"If you want dramatic pronouncements about the latitude and longitude of the Garden of Eden, you’ll have to look elsewhere… But if you’re looking for a sly and entertaining account of the ongoing search for paradise, Paradise Lust is it." — Bookpage.com

"[A] smart social history which covers theories both crackpot and credible.” — More Magazine

"Part adventure story, part historical narrative, Wilensky-Lanford spins the history of explorers who searched for the Garden’s precise earthly coordinates… Quick-witted and quirky… Wilensky-Lanford isn't satisfied with asking only "where," she also deftly explores "why?"… meditating not so much on the Garden, but on humanity's first steps from it.” — Publishers Weekly

"A spirited chase through history, geography and religion… Wilensky-Lanford has certainly done her homework… A lively journey." — Kirkus Reviews

"In the thought-provoking Paradise Lust, author Brook Wilensky-Lanford explores why this Biblical paradise still fascinates so many… A sly and entertaining account." — BookPage.com

"Scholarly and smart, yet accessible and fun with just the right amount of wit, Paradise Lust is original, impressively researched, and hard to put down."— David Farley, author of An Irreverent Curiosity

"Humorous, meticulously researched and detailed. … an all-around good read." —RagMag

"This charming exploration of the enduring place in the Western imagination held by the story of our Edenic origins is all about the searchers, not the search."—Macleans

"One of the most enduring and mysterious places in the Bible, the Garden of Eden has fascinated people around the world since ancient times. Those who believe that it is a real place are … a diverse and prominent group of personalities that Brook Wilensky-Lanford describes in her lively new book. … The desire to put Eden on the map is a timeless quest to discover our origins, all told in charming detail." —The Daily Beast, a “Daily Beast Must Read”

“A charming, century-spanning journey about the search for the Garden of Eden… This is truly a fascinating read.”—Carol Ann Strahl, Buffalo Rising

Product Details

• Hardcover: 304 pages
• Publisher: Grove Press; First Edition edition (August 2, 2011)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0802119808
• ISBN-13: 978-0802119803
• Product Dimensions: 1.3 x 6 x 9 inches
• Shipping Weight: 2.2 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 3.8 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (17 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,089,425 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Brook Wilensky-Lanford grew up on Mount Desert Island, Maine, studied religion at Wesleyan University, and received her M.F.A. in Nonfiction Writing from Columbia University. Her book reviews and essays have appeared in The Boston Globe, The San Francisco Chronicle, Lapham's Quarterly; and her book, Paradise Lust, the true story of people who are looking for the Garden of Eden on earth, is now available in paperback. An editor of the online religion magazine Killing the Buddha, Brook lives in Jersey City, New Jersey. Learn more at www.brookwilensky-lanford.com

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

5 of 5 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars Paradise: A movable feast July 20, 2012

By Judith Toronchuk

Format:Hardcover

In this witty narrative Wilensky-Linford details the folly of literalism. In the beginning God created the Garden of Eden perhaps somewhere in the Persian Gulf, or maybe at the North Pole, or underneath Cincinnati. We meet a variety of characters, some sincere and theologically savvy, others less so, as they search for a literal Eden. Paradise Lust explores the irrational things educated intelligent people can literally choose to believe. A wider question is why the literal geography of Genesis 1-3 is so important to so many.

Wilensky-Linford, a freelance editor and essayist, artfully ties together disciplines as diverse as history, archaeology, religion, science, politics while exploring eccentric personalities.

The book's major contribution might be to provoke thought on how a few verses from Genesis can be used to support such disparate and sometimes absurd interpretations. Some exegetists wrote solely to promote their unique theological perspective while others wanted to promote their home locality. Some were out for fame, some more clearly for fortune.

My attention was caught at the outset by William Warren, first president of Boston University, professor of theology, and Methodist minister. Published in 1895 and enduring eleven printings. Paradise Found: The Cradle of the Race at the North Pole, rested on 500 scholarly sources. Warren recognized that Eden was destroyed by the deluge, and so placed it in a desolate region inaccessible due to changing climate. His theory at least furthered the cause of science by capturing public interest in funding Arctic exploration. He was not deterred by the resulting reports indicating the Arctic was devoid of Edenic qualities....

More conventional in approach were Assyriologists Friedrich Delitzsch and Archibald Sayce, long-time friends and amicable competitors. Delitzsch, who placed Eden near Babylon, was friend of the Kaiser and son of biblical scholar Franz Delitzsch. Sayce, an Oxford professor who resided for years on a house boat on the Nile, chose a more southerly spot near Eridu. They continued for decades to spar over the exact location until WWI truncated their friendship.

Wilensky-Linford's fascinating account follows the southern Iraqi region of Qurna from Ottoman rule to its present desolation. John Calvin also placed Eden in this region. Others chose California, Ohio, Berlin, Mongolia or Sri Lanka and Joseph Smith revealed that Eden had been in Independence, Missouri. Lena and William Sadler, an obstetrician and psychiatry professor respectively, who debunked all other forms of psychic phenomena, but relied on revelations from extraterrestrials to produce The Urantia Book placing Eden near Crete. Finally in 1956 Eden was discovered in Florida by a politically conservative lawyer convinced the serpent was, in his words, "a Communist or a welfare-statist" (171).

A few modern theories are also presented. Professor Juris Zarins conducted years of field research in Egypt and the Arabian Peninsula. In an aside to his scholarly work Zarins proposes that the garden story is based on the migrations around 5,000 B.C of foraging nomads to Mesopotamia where agriculture already flourished. As the Gulf continued to rise, the agriculturists were forced out of Eden. Using LANDSAT photos, archaeology, linguistics, and geology, he situates Eden underneath the present Persian Gulf. Wilensky-Linford considers this the most credible garden theory. Others such as film producer David Rohl and writer Michael Sanders, have presented popularized theories based on seemingly little evidence.

The author also devotes one chapter to American fundamentalism and contemporary evangelicalism unfortunately often conflating the two. For this chapter she visited the Creation Museum in Kentucky associated with Answers in Genesis. In spite of their "brazenness" she credits them for admitting the localization of Eden is incompatible with flood geology. Creationism is now a litmus test for evangelicals prompting her to state that "Either the brain secretes thought like bile, or God washes your mouth out with holy soap" (205).

Wilensky-Linford feels the essential interest in locating Eden lies in our longing to undo the exile from paradise. It therefore represents the existential human quest "located both in the original past and in the idealized future" (92). "That's the essential paradox of the search. Eden has to be erased in order for it to be Eden. A paradise isn't paradise until it's lost." (253). It is an illustration of the varieties of religious experience.

Historical research is a strong point in this book, which is otherwise short on Biblical, scientific and archaeological detail citing few sources in those areas. The author also fails to adequately evaluate the professional credentials of the modern theorists although she alludes to their "Indiana Jones" quotients. And unfortunately there is no index. For the most part exceptionally well-written, nevertheless the ample hyperbole and irony is occasionally overdone. All in all, however, I definitely recommend this book for some fun and instructive reading. Read more ›

4 of 5 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars Lust Worthy September 25, 2011

By wmyers

Format:Hardcover

Paradise Lust delivers a delightful journey alongside searchers who are alternatively brave, deluded, brilliant and foolish in their quests to find the literal Garden of Eden. This adventure story spans the globe and two centuries, from Boston University in the late 19th century to China to present-day Iraq to the North Pole. The book is meticulously researched, with more than 200 sources and, even more impressively, it walks a narrow path of objectivity - contending with religious history and texts - without a wobble. Wilensky-Lanford also treats her subject with warmth and wit, presenting portraits that can be superbly charming or humorously quixotic.

In chronicling the searchers, Paradise Lust sheds light on how myths are created: what recipes they follow and under what conditions they are prepared and served. Eden's may be a singular story in human history because of its subject, but we can see in how it is told and retold and shaped by hands of nearly every race, era and intention that its form is familiar. Myths seem to bind us in our collective yearning to pierce the mysteries of life just as they are a dangerously effective social currency in the hands of unscrupulous leaders.

One of the most thought-provoking and satisfying chapters of the book examines what might be called the secularist hunt for the Garden by Dr. Juris Zarins, a historian who in 1987 earnestly explained the biblical story in terms of satellite photos, climate science and some penetrating observations on the dramatic transition of the Neolithic Revolution - the development of agriculture and the first human settlements. Readers interested in the history of technology and the origins of civilization will be engrossed.... This particular search neither confirms nor refutes the words of the Bible, instead it potentially enriches them with even deeper and perhaps more universal meaning.

As a whole, Paradise Lust demonstrates how the search for Eden is itself a fascinating and highly reflective cultural artifact. It seems we search for Eden for very human reasons, if sometimes in inhumane or irrational ways. The intentions embedded in these journeys vary from extending colonialism to bestowing religious legitimacy to plain old hunting for fortune and glory. In chronicling these searches, Paradise Lust applies a refreshing rigor and engaging style that they, as treasures of human history, richly deserve. Read more ›

4 of 5 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars A wonderful guide book on the age old quest August 7, 2011

By BLehner

Format:Hardcover

Who hasn't heard about the ventures of mankind to find the place that went down in history as Garden of Eden. Paradise Lust: Searching For The Garden Of Eden presents a comprehensive overview of theories on where this elusive place might have been and how people have been literally lusting after the answer to this question.
So where was Eden? The North Pole? Ohio? China? Or Mesopotamia after all? Brook Wilensky-Lanford goes on a modern quest which is both informative and at the same time wonderfully entertaining, a fascinating journey that is at the same time smart and full of wit, a perfect combination of being well researched and told in a conversational style that will make this book fun for every reader interested in the subject.
With a focus on both famous, and sometimes not so famous, seekers that tried to unravel the mystery of the exact position of the Garden of Eden, the reader meets William Warren and Friedrich Delitzsch, among many others, and in the end Brook also comes to her very own conclusion on where Eden might have been and her answer might be surprising.
And maybe we should also look at it from this side - paradise isn't paradise until it's lost. What would happen if we truly found it? Would we be overjoyed? Or merely disappointed?
In short: A wonderful guide book on the age old quest to find the Garden of Eden!

Disclosure of Material Connection: I received this book free from the publisher through the NetGalley.com book review program. I was not required to write a positive review. The opinions I have expressed are my own. I am disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission's 16 CFR, Part 255 : "Guides Concerning the Use of Endorsements and Testimonials in Advertising."