The Optimistic Decade is out in paperback with a fiery new cover! The New York Times picked it for Paperback Row, and Entertainment Weekly named it one of the best paperbacks to check out this spring.
I wrote a new essay about activism and futility, writing and failure, and how we keep going together. It’s here at the Paris Review.
The Optimistic Decade is an Indie Next Pick for June! Thank you booksellers!
Thrilled to have such a thoughtful review of The Optimistic Decade in the New York Times!
People Magazine named The Optimistic Decade as one of its Best New Books!
New York Magazine included The Optimistic Decade in its Approval Matrix (Brilliant and Highbrow!) saying, “The best, worst, right, and left of America’s ideologies mash up in The Optimistic Decade.”
The Boston Globe interviewed me about my reading habits.
Buzzfeed.com included The Optimistic Decade on their summer reading list.
BBC.com named The Optimistic Decade as one of the 10 books to read in May.
Not to be outdone, Entertainment Weekly named The Optimistic Decade as one of the 20 books to read in May. And The Millions listed it among their 15 most anticipated books for May as well. The NYPost listed it as one of its must-read books for the week.
I had a fantastic time on Colorado Public Radio, talking about Exxon’s oil shale bust and what it means to be a jaded idealist. You can listen here.
I loved talking to Cyd Oppenheimer on the Book Talk podcast. Here I am talking about idealism and disillusionment, booms and busts, and why stories matter. Followed by guest readers talking about The Optimistic Decade, power and privilege, masculinity and mythmaking, and the invention of identity. And look at the feed, too, there are so many amazing interviews on this podcast.
I have a new essay in Lithub about summer camp and myths and lies.
I have a new essay in Buzzfeed Reader on apocalyptic fears and doing aerobics with Jane Fonda.
Read an excerpt from The Optimistic Decade on Lithub!
This conversation in the Daily Hampshire Gazette about Erin White about writing our books together and my non-literary inspirations was a total delight.
Here’s an interview with Shelf Awareness about idealism and disillusionment and whether the book is autobiographical.
My new essay in the Paris Review, on motherhood and ambition and a popular parenting manual, has been making the rounds on the internet. It’s been overwhelming to hear from so many mothers who shared my feelings of guilt and shame. Here’s to all the ambitious mothers out there. I’m grateful for the work you do.
I had a fantastic time signing galleys of The Optimistic Decade and meeting booksellers in Memphis for the American Bookseller’s Association’s Winter Institute. If you’re going to spend 6 hours schmoozing, schmooze with booksellers, the best people in the entire world.
I have a new story – also about motherhood, as well as apocalypse and the Western landscape – in the most recent Five Points Journal.
Southern Living Magazine named The Optimistic Decade one of their most anticipated books for spring. They write: “A utopian summer camp born of an oil bust and populated by people both yearning for a waning idealism and coming to terms with their lives and relationships? Sign us up. Heather Abel’s sharp and shining debut brings to life a quirky, specific landscape that brings into focus essential truths about life—growing up and into it, and just plain living it.”