Description
21 writers and organizers on chosen family, hacking adulthood, and other lessons communal living can teach us about the future of housing in America
Featuring Kristen Arnett, Rhaina Cohen, Kim Stanley Robinson, and more
At age 29, when Samantha Paige Rosen made an unexpected move back home, she was surprised to find how much she loved living with her parents again. Inspired and curious, she began searching for others who had redefined home and community.
The essays and Q&As in Living, Together are about carving out spaces of communal connection and joy in our 3-bed, 2-bath starter home culture. Although they recount life at different stages and in different regions, these stories showcase the delights and tradeoffs of more dynamic shapes of “home.” Across sections on family, intentional community, and what lies beyond housing, readers will hear from voices like:
- Kristen Arnett, whose found family kept her afloat, from weddings to hurricane season and everything in between
- Kim Stanley Robinson, who describes the magic of communities that are led by everyone
- Sarah Thankam Mathews, who founded a pandemic mutual aid group and discovered, like so many of us, how essential connection and care are in times of crisis
- Rodney M. Bordeaux, who explores how strength and unity are inextricably tied to life on First Nations reservations
Communal living isn’t just for cults or millennials with a pipe dream. Amidst the climate crisis, a hostile housing market, and the loneliness epidemic, Living, Together opens a window into how people in the US are thriving through collective care. This book invites us to imagine what new opportunities for connection exist when we push through the walls society has built for us.
Table of Contents
Introduction: Home Is Other People
PART I: FAMILY HOMES
Survival of the Connected / Elizabeth Hart Bergstrom
Learning to live more like animals
You and I Were Roommates Once / Adam Vitcavage
A sibling relationship gets a reboot
Q&A with Jonathan Escoffery
Our shared responsibility, according to a third-culture kid
Renovations and Rebirths / Dani McClain
A stroke brings three generations of women under one roof
A Polyamorous Commitment / Alex Alberto
Building a family without a blueprint
Come with Us / Hannah Grieco
Saying yes to help when it’s needed most
PART II: INTENTIONAL COMMUNITIES
The Life and Afterlife of a Shared Home / Rhaina Cohen
Hacking adulthood with housemates
Q&A with Suanne Carlson
Rediscovering home on the road
The Art of Aging in Community / Kate Madden Yee
How do we decide where to grow old?
Returning to Ospaye / Rodney M. Bordeaux
A tribal leader describes community before colonization
Q&A with Tiffany Harris
A search for belonging leads to communal living
Hello to All This / Gabrielle Korn
Turning a real estate investment into an artist residency
Q&A with Hank Gamel and Fran Biederman
An experiment in intergenerational living
The Myth of Stable Ground / Amanda E. Machado
The political nature of a queer BIPOC home
Enough Is as Good as a Feast / Kim Stanley Robinson
Harvesting a community led by everyone
PART III: BEYOND HOUSING
The Shared Secret of Our Lives / Simone Gorrindo
Military wives become more than emergency contacts
Q&A with Mary Anne Adams
Ensuring Black lesbian elders aren’t left behind
Drag in This House / Jake Montano aka Imelda Glucose
Resilience through community art and expression
Q&A with Adam Meyer
Anyone can throw a dinner party
The Opposite of Loneliness / Sarah Thankam Mathews
Are people the answer?
Weathering / Kristen Arnett
Finding family love and acceptance, at last
About the Contributors
About the Editor
Acknowledgments
Credits
Notes
