Come with us for a moment out onto the porch. Just like that, we’ve entered another world without leaving home. In this liminal space, an endless array of absorbing philosophical questions arises: What does it mean to be in a place? How does one place teach us about the world and ourselves? What do we—and the things we’ve built—mean in this world? In a time when reflections on the nature of society and individual endurance are so paramount, Charlie Hailey’s latest book is both a mental tonic and a welcome provocation. Solidly grounded in ideas, ecology, and architecture, The Porch takes us on a journey along the edges of nature where the outside comes in, hosts meet guests, and imagination runs wild. Hailey writes from a modest porch on the Homosassa River in Florida. He sleeps there, studies the tides, listens for osprey and manatee, welcomes shipwrecked visitors, watches shadows on its screens, reckons with climate change, and reflects on his own acclimation to his environment. The profound connections he unearths anchor an armchair exploration of past porches and those of the future, moving from ancient Greece to contemporary Sweden, from the White House roof to the Anthropocene home. In his ruminations, he links up with other porch dwellers including environmentalist Rachel Carson, poet Wendell Berry, writers Eudora Welty and Zora Neale Hurston, philosopher John Dewey, architect Louis Kahn, and photographer Paul Strand. As close as architecture can bring us to nature, the porch is where we can learn to contemplate anew our evolving place in a changing world—a space we need now more than ever. Timeless and timely, Hailey’s book is a dreamy yet deeply passionate meditation on the joy and gravity of sitting on the porch.

Tom De Haven's work “combines a soaring imagination, a gift for character acting, a curiosity for lives he could not live.” —The Washington Post THE STUNNING SEQUEL TO WALKER OF WORLDS! The Order of Things has been fulfilled. Jack, the King’s Tramp, has returned to his native world of Lostwithal. With his witnesses from Kemolo—our Earth—he has warned the King about the coming Epicene. Actions can now be taken to stop chaos from overwhelming the universes. But can they? The Mage of Four has spirited the Epicene off to some distant place in Lostwithal. Neither can be found. If the Mage cannot be stopped, the Epicene will fulfill the awful purpose for which it was born. Plots and problems grow still more complex. Returning from a restive Ramble, Jack discovers Peter Musik, Money Campbell, and his other friends gone—each seeking the answer to his personal quest. Jack must walk once more. Perhaps his skill at causing fortuitous “accidents” will somehow pull everything together....