“Absorbing . . . In writing Paradise Lust, Ms. Wilensky-Lanford faced the unenviable task of translating intellectual history into popular history, and her approach relies heavily on speed and whimsy. . . . But her interest in her subject is deep, her narrative is expertly layered, and her interpretations of the seekers’ motives are more than convincing.” —Jennie Erin Smith, The Wall Street Journal

“It’s impossible to say where the Garden of Eden lies, if it ever really existed, but the ‘where’ isn’t what Wilensky-Lanford is after. She leaves that question to a colorful cast of ‘Eden seekers’ that includes explorers, clergymen, scholars, engineers and educators, whom she profiles in an effort to better understand Christianity and the eccentric, amusing and inspiring people captivated by Eden. . . . There is such a rich amount of insight, drama and adventure to be found in the process of not finding the Garden of Eden that readers will not feel any such letdown. Wilensky-Lanford approaches her subjects with respect, enthusiasm and conscientious research, and succeeds in doing what the best one-subject historical studies do, which is to reframe history, freshening up long-familiar events.” —Liz Coville, San Francisco Chronicle

“Each sojourn Eden-ward is . . . a personal journey into the mirage where unattainable desires and reality meet.” —Caroline O’Donovan, The New Republic

“Paradise Lust is an entertaining history of a story we all know, whether we believe it or not. It is also 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.” —Michael Kroner, Cleveland Plain Dealer

“Humorous, meticulously researched and detailed. . . . an all-around good read.” —RagMag

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

“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 bright, bouncy, vastly entertaining account; the perfect guidebook to a fascinating land that may be anywhere or nowhere.” —Philip Zaleski, editor of The American Spiritual Writing series

“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.” —Brian Bethune, Macleans

“In seeking out the seekers for the biblical Paradise, Brook Wilensky-Lanford has created a paradisiacal oasis of a book. Read for information, curiosity, or edification, and receive its pleasures in good faith. But beware: there are bitter roots in the milk and honey.” —Andrei Codrescu, author of The Poetry Lesson

“Spin a globe and jab your finger down at random. Chances are good that some wild-eyed theorist has, at some point in the past, placed the ‘historical’ Garden of Eden wherever your digit just landed. In this lively, charming survey of attempts to definitively locate a mythic nexus, Brook Wilensky-Lanford does not stint on madcap details. Eden in Ohio? Readers will be believers after imbibing this wealth of folly.” —Barnes & Noble Review

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

“Part adventure story, part historical narrative, Wilensky-Lanford spins the history of explorers who searched for the Garden’s precise earthly coordinates. With adept, well-researched prose, she traces how, from four verses in Genesis . . . scientists and pseudo-scientists, preachers and theologians, have claimed ‘scientific proof’ of Paradise’s location—in Iraq, Sri Lanka, the Seychelles, Florida, Ohio, the North Pole, and elsewhere. . . . 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

“Adam and Eve most definitely lived in Ohio. Or China. Or the North Pole, or Mesopotamia. Actually, the real location of the Garden of Eden (if indeed there was a Garden of Eden) is something of a mystery. In the thought-provoking Paradise Lust, author Brook Wilensky-Lanford explores why this Biblical paradise still fascinates so many. . . . A sly and entertaining account.” —Amy Scribner, BookPage

“[A] smart social history which covers theories both crackpot and credible.” —Lise Funderburg, More Magazine

“Where was the Garden of Eden? God only knows. But among us mortals, no one knows more than Brook Wilensky-Lanford about the adventurers, scholars, and wing nuts who have told us, verily, that it was in China, or at the North Pole, or—. This is their story, and it is as charming and sly as the serpent who instigated the original Trouble in Paradise.” —Patricia O’Toole, author of The Five of Hearts and When Trumpets Call

“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

“Wilensky-Lanford writes with charm and erudition about a pursuit we take either all too seriously or not seriously enough: that peculiar but utterly human longing for a lost Eden.” —Paul Collins, author of Banvard’s Folly

“There is great pleasure to be taken from Brook Wilensky-Lanford’s affectionate, witty, and carefully-researched survey of crackpot Biblical archaeology, past and present. But the real prize is in the wisdom: including the point that modern science, despite its fancy track suit and pneumatic shoes, chases just as desperately as did the naked and barefoot ancients after their always-elusive quarry, Truth.” —Les Standiford, author of Bringing Adam Home

“Be wary, reader, of this tempting fresh fig of a book. If you bite you shall perhaps acquire more knowledge than you counted on and experience an undue degree of bliss. . . . The search for a literal Eden is a more American story than you might think. Wilensky-Lanford delivers her comprehensive survey with a wit and levity that serves as perfect fulcrum to the doomed gravity of her subjects.” —J.C. Hallman, author of In Utopia and The Hospital for Bad Poets

“A fascinating book on a little-discussed topic: the centuries-old quest to locate the Garden of Eden.” —Ronald Numbers, author of The Creationists: From Scientific Creationism to Intelligent Design