Fall in Love, Have Children, Stay Put, Save the Planet, Be Happy

A post-coronavirus evolution-based how-to for putting living ahead of work.

Bestselling author Frank Schaeffer offers a passionate political, social, and lifestyle “blueprint” for changes millions of us know are needed to rebalance our work lives with thriving relationships: Fall in Love, Have Children, Stay Put, Save the Planet, Be Happy. Even before everything was disrupted by COVID-19 (not to mention by Trump), millions of Americans were already questioning capitalism’s “values.” We were already challenging the idea that your job defines you. We already knew something was wrong. Loneliness, frustration, and alienation were already on the rise. Even the most successful of us felt too busy, too preoccupied, and too distracted to enjoy what we intuitively know are life’s greatest rewards: vibrant relationships, family life, connection to others, involvement in our community, and the thrilling experience of love. 

Fall in Love . . . builds a well-researched and entertaining bridge to living happier lives and to a better future. It shows us that based on a better understanding of our evolutionary selves, we can thrive in family life and in our work life, too. But to do both joyfully—and at the same time—depends on rediscovering the priority of relationships, connections, community, and love.

Frank Schaeffer is a New York Times bestselling author of more than a dozen fiction and nonfiction books. Frank is a survivor of both polio and an evangelical/fundamentalist childhood, an acclaimed writer who overcame severe dyslexia, a homeschooled and self-taught documentary movie director, and a feature film director of four low-budget Hollywood features that he describes as “pretty terrible.” He is also an artist with a loyal following of collectors who own many of his oil paintings. He has spoken at dozens of major universities, libraries, and museums from the Hammer in LA to Harvard, Princeton, and Yale. Frank’s three semiautobiographical novels about growing up in a fundamentalist mission, Portofino, Zermatt, and Saving Grandma, have been translated into nine languages. His video blogs posted on Facebook have had millions of views.

Frank is a guest commentator on MSNBC with Joy Reid and has been frequently interviewed by Rachel Maddow. He has also been interviewed on almost every major TV news show from Oprah to the Today show to 20/20. His memoir Crazy for God is used as a textbook in the history of religion classes and courses in comparative religion and sociology in public and private universities. In her extended NPR interview with Frank about his memoir Crazy for God, Terry Gross called it out as a very important book. Frank’s book Keeping Faith: A Father-Son Story about Love and the United States Marine Corps was a New York Times bestseller and was described by the commandant of the Marine Corps as a new “Marine family Bible.” Frank is a progressive activist who has actively campaigned for liberal political candidates