Edi­tor Saman­tha Paige Rosen’s per­son­al sto­ry sets the stage for this inti­mate and gen­tle essay col­lec­tion about where, how, and with whom peo­ple choose to live. As much as it explores some of the prac­ti­cal­i­ties of hous­ing, it is, above all, a book about iden­ti­ty and aging. Who are we, who do we want to become, and how are our aspi­ra­tions con­nect­ed to the peo­ple who and places that ground us? The book asks us to ques­tion our bound­aries and our pol­i­tics, won­der­ing how our choic­es of shel­ter reflect our values. 

Liv­ing, Togeth­er: Reimag­in­ing Com­mu­ni­ty in the Age of Dis­con­nec­tion is divid­ed into three sec­tions, each con­tain­ing six to sev­en per­son­al essays and short inter­views focus­ing on fam­i­ly homes, inten­tion­al com­mu­ni­ties, and ​“beyond hous­ing.” ​“Ren­o­va­tions and Rebirths,” ​“The Art of Aging in Com­mu­ni­ty,” ​“Return to Ospaye,” and ​“The Shared Secret of Our Lives” are par­tic­u­lar­ly out­stand­ing essays. The Q&A about Hope Mead­ows, with Hank Gamel and Fran Bie­der­man, is an excep­tion­al­ly insight­ful inter­view. Each of these essays ampli­fied the mes­sage that what we need from our rela­tion­ships and space changes over time, that home does not hap­pen in a vac­u­um. Through these inde­pen­dent voic­es, the col­lec­tion moves read­ers from the imme­di­a­cy of inter­per­son­al rela­tion­ships (includ­ing who does the dish­es), to man­ag­ing plan­ning and hous­ing as a civ­i­liza­tion. The entries empha­size both the intri­cate dynam­ics of liv­ing arrange­ments — shaped by rela­tion­ships and roles — and prac­ti­cal logis­tics, all while aspir­ing to blend these aspects seamlessly.

As Rosen weaves deeply per­son­al nar­ra­tives with dis­cus­sions of orga­ni­za­tions and struc­tures that chal­lenge and expand the social con­structs of fam­i­ly and com­mu­ni­ty, read­ers may won­der whether she wants them to focus on the indi­vid­ual sto­ry or the under­ly­ing pub­lic pol­i­cy dis­course. This read­er expe­ri­enced the book as more impact­ful when read­ing each entry inde­pen­dent­ly, which allows more time to savor each voice. Impor­tant­ly, Rosen seems to expect read­ers to be com­fort­able with pop­u­la­tion diver­si­ty, den­si­ty, and the pos­si­bil­i­ty that the best planned lives have unex­pect­ed side quests. It is a col­lec­tion that breathes eas­i­ly in a liv­ing room with like-mind­ed friends and fam­i­ly but might strug­gle to find a chair in a more polit­i­cal­ly diverse book club. Read­ers with the patience and grace to hon­or the lived strug­gles and tri­umphs behind the nar­ra­tives will be able to join Rosen in the thought­ful jour­ney the col­lec­tion inspires.