This work of creative nonfiction marks the fruition of years of intensive scholarship combined with assiduous observation on the part of author Stephen Otabil. Part exploration, part celebration of certain aspects of our common humanity, Out of MN. Eutopia: A Rare Journey into the Humanscape reflects the author’s life journey from his native Ghana to his adopted home in Minnesota. While couched in personal narrative, Otabil’s inquiry into a broad array of philosophical areas is destined to resonate with a wide circle of human interests.
“MNeutopia” is a portmanteau word joining “Minnesota,” a place filled with goodness, with “eutopia,” an uncommon term which signifies, in Otabil’s usage, a determinate earthly experience rather than an elusive ideal. It is in this unusual place where Otabil seeks that which defines our common humanity. And it is also where he identifies the founding principle in the aesthetic dimension of human experience.
From Ghana to Minnesota, from ethics to aesthetics, from a “new school of life” to the newfound realm of “interspecies communication,” guided by his muse, Otabil’s creative explorations dwell in a fascinating realm at the boundaries of ideas–where exciting new worldviews are born!