Book description
Essayist, social critic, poet, “mad farmer,” novelist, teacher, and
prophet: Wendell Berry has been called many things, but the broad sweep
of his contemporary relevance and influence defies facile labels. With
his unique perspective and far-reaching vision, Berry poses complex
questions about humankind and our relationship to the land and offers
simple but profound solutions. Berry's essays, novels, and poems give
voice to a provocative but consistent philosophy, one that extends far
beyond its agrarian core to include elements of sociology, the natural
sciences, politics, religion, philosophy, linguistics, agriculture, and
other seemingly incompatible fields of study. Wendell Berry: Life and
Work examines this wise and original thinker, appraising his written
work and exploring his influence as an activist and artist. Jason Peters
has assembled a broad variety of writers including Hayden Carruth, Sven
Birkerts, Barbara Kingsolver, Stanley Hauerwas, Donald Hall, Ed
McClanahan, Bill McKibben, Scott Russell Sanders, Norman Wirzba, Wes
Jackson, and Eric T. Freyfogle. Each contributor examines an aspect of
Berry's varied yet cohesive body of work. Also included are highly
personal glimpses of Wendell Berry: his career, academic influence, and
unconventional lifestyle. These deft sketches of Berry show the purity
of his agrarian lifestyle and demonstrate that there is nothing simple
about the life to which he has devoted himself. He embraces a life that
sustains him not by easy purchase and haste but by physical labor and
patience, not by mindless acquiescence to a centralized economy but by
careful attention to local ways and wisdom. Wendell Berry: Life and Work
combines biographical sketches, personal accounts, literary criticism,
and social commentary. Together, the contributors illuminate Berry as he
is: a complex man of place and community with an astonishing depth of
domestic, intellectual, filial, and fraternal attributes. The result is
a rich portrait of one of America's most profound and honest thinkers.
Jason Peters is associate professor of English at Augustana College in
Rock Island, Illinois.
