We've been building and making things ever since we stumbled out of Paradise. Some of those things are incredible continuations of God's creation, while others are nothing but ambitious catast
We've been building and making things ever since we stumbled out of Paradise. Some of those things are incredible continuations of God's creation, while others are nothing but ambitious catastrophes. We continue making, says Russell Rathbun, but we've lost ourselves in the process.
So how do we find ourselves again—rebuild our connections to each other, the earth, maybe even God? In search of an answer, Rathbun drives cross-country to the Salton Sea and takes a trip to China's Great Wall, interspersing his traveling revelations with engaging musings on Madame Mao's Gang of Four, Grandpa Webb's family secret, the Great Flood and the Tower of Babel, and a host of other subjects that grab his attention.
With cheeky wit and sharp insight, Rathbun uncovers a way of finding ourselves and the deep connections we long for in an increasingly complex world.
Gordon Gano—Violent Femmes
"The Great Wall of China and the Salton Sea is filled with things I never before had the pleasure of knowing or thinking about. I really like this book!"
Publishers Weekly
"An explication of the mundane inside notions of the colossal or the grand, and a model of how to truly live and appreciate the world. Rathbun's eclectic book will be enjoyed by a wide readership of seekers."
Debbie Blue
—author of Consider the Birds
"Because Russell Rathbun clearly loves the human race even as he hilariously unravels tales of our folly, you'll come out of this book feeling more hopeful than you thought possible in the throes of environmental crisis and the reign of the machine. In Rathbun's deft and observant meditations, mercy always wins."
Morgan Meis
—contributor to the New Yorker
"I want to read everything Russell Rathbun has written-he's funny and honest and attuned to the tragic and to the absurd. His prose has made me laugh out loud, and it has made me cry. I cannot recommend The Great Wall of China and the Salton Sea more highly."
Nadia Bolz-Weber
—from the foreword
"The way [Rathbun plays with the Flood and the Tower of Babel stories from Genesis in this book is brilliant. . . . This book will change the way you understand these stories in history, and in the Bible, and most importantly, in the story we're living now."
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Russell Rathbun is a writer, speaker, and blogger who brings his irreverent sense of humor and curiosity to often-overlooked subjects. A founding pastor of House of Mercy in Saint Paul, Minnesota (once named "the Best Church for Non-Churchgoers"), he has been regularly featured on Minnesota Public Radio and is also the author of Post-Rapture Radio.
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