21 writers and organizers on found 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.
“This stunning anthology is a powerful, generous reframing of what it means to build a life—a reminder that connection, interdependence, and shared responsibility are not fringe experiments but ancient inherently human qualities that have the power to heal the world.”
—Sophie Lucido Johnson, author of Kin: The Future of Family
“A lively collection that invites us all to consider how we might live together. No need for a total commune vision; this book lifts up the joys of cohabiting with friends, family, and chosen family even if only for a short while. And, crucially, the stories teach us how to envision living together, navigate the reality, and depart with gratitude and grace.”
—Casper ter Kuile, author of The Power of Ritual
“If you desire a life that you breaks from the well-worn path of marriage and kids and a big house in the burbs, if you wish for a life that is less a reflection of society’s defaults and more of a work of art, one that reflects your creativity, desires, and grandest vision of what makes a good life, then you must read this book. You can only truly know the life you want if you know the lives one can want. Living, Together will show you all the ways you can live.”
—Dr. Marisa G. Franco, author of Platonic: How the Science of Attachment Can Help You Make—and Keep—Friends
“A town hall of real luminaries on a seriously under-pondered subject, Living, Together is the book I did know I needed but haven’t yet seen anywhere. These essays are rigorous, funny, authentic, and informative; I came away feeling 10 percent more hopeful about how we will possibly live now and 10 percent less dead inside.”
—Emma Copley Eisenberg, author of Housemates