Praise for Paradise Lust " 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 "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 "A spirited chase through history, geography and religion . Wilensky-Lanford has certainly done her homework . A lively journey."-- Kirkus Reviews "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." -- BookPage "[A] smart social history which covers theories both crackpot and credible." -- More Magazine "A bright, bouncy, vastly entertaining account; the perfect guidebook to a fascinating land that may be anywhere or nowhere." --Philip Zaleski, editor of The Best Spiritual Writing series "In seeking out the seekers for the biblical Paradise, Brook Wilensky-Lanford has created a paradisaical 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 "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.