"Abel is a perceptive writer whose astute observations keep the book funny and light . . . An exploration of the limits of idealism . . . subversive." -The New York Times Book Review A smart and sly story about a utopian summer camp, a charismatic leader, and the people who are drawn to his vision, The Optimistic Decade follows four unforgettable characters and a piece of land that changes everyone who lives on it.
There is Caleb, founder of the back-to-the-land camp Llamalo, who is determined to teach others to live simply. There is Donnie, the rancher who gave up his land to Caleb and who now wants it back. There is Rebecca, determined to become an activist like her father and undone by the spell of both Llamalo and new love. And there is David, a teenager who has turned Llamalo into his personal religion.
The Optimistic Decade brilliantly explores love, class, and the bloom and fade of idealism, and asks smart questions about good intentions gone wrong. Heather Abel was raised in Santa Monica, California. She attended Swarthmore College and subsequently worked as a reporter and editor for political newspapers. Her essays have been published in the New York Times, the Los Angeles Times, Slate, and elsewhere. She received her MFA in fiction from the New School, where she later taught creative nonfiction writing. She lives in Northampton, Massachusetts, with her husband and two daughters. "Abel, who previously worked as a reporter, is a perceptive writer whose astute observations keep the book funny and light even under the weight of its Big Ideas. [She] draws convincing parallels between the rituals of camp and those of activism. Is this a book about the failure of Zionism, an exploration of the limits of idealism or a literary coming-of-age novel? It's a bit of all three. Most interestingly, it doesn't just rehash the story of the Holy Land we already know, but imagines a new, subversive ending."
-New York Times Book Review
"The Optimistic Decade is a stunning and unusual debut. Heather Abel's subjects are political idealism, American-style lust for land, and the perils and pleasures of young love. Her voice is warm, beautifully funny, and completely original. Although the novel spans decades and tackles big themes, its intimate moments and vivid creation of an unforgettable landscape are what continue to haunt me. Once you enter the world of this book, you-like the characters-will find it hard to leave."
-Stephen McCauley, author of My Ex-Life
"Funny and ruefully astute."
-People
"The Optimistic Decade is a stunning and unusual debut. Heather Abel's subjects are political idealism, American-style lust for land, and the perils and pleasures of young love. Her voice is warm, beautifully funny, and completely original. Although the novel spans decades and tackles big themes, its intimate moments and vivid creation of an unforgettable landscape are what continue to haunt me. Once you enter the world of this book, you--like the characters--will find it hard to leave."
--Stephen McCauley, author of My Ex-Life
"I loved every minute I spent reading Heather Abel's The Optimistic Decade, a sharply rendered portrait of America in 1990. The novel is rich in the conflicting energies of the time-lingering resentments from the previous decade's stark class divisions, a renewed hope for the decade to come - and these clashes are played out over the course of one summer at a Colorado camp. The result is an exuberant and nonjudgmental examination of the unique conflicts of the era."
-Arianna Rebolini, BuzzFeed
"Abel's timely debut is bound to draw comparisons to The Interestings by Meg Wolitzer. The Optimistic Decade follows five characters in Reagan-era America, and explores the limits of idealism and the complexities of well-intentioned activism."
-Entertainment Weekly
"The best, worst, right,
