Essential essays from Wendell Berry's writings on agrarianism, agriculture, and community.
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Oct 15, 2011
Michael
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People should read this book like they read the Bible. Not necessarily the way believers read the Bible (though it's not the worst replacement), but at least the way anyone who wants to be culturally literate reads Genesis and Exodus and Job and John and a few others to have an idea of what's going on around them. This is the compelling oppositional political and social philosophy of my generation, my peer social class at least. So often as I get to know someone I come to see that they hold this
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Oct 23, 2009
Coyle
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Wendell Berry is a fascinating character, who always has interesting things to say. If nothing else, Berry is useful in challenging us to reconsider our presuppositions. We're just not used to being told that industry and production (as we do them now) are inherently bad, and ought to be done away with in favor of the quiet of a small, local community. Berry is exceptionally good at expressing and expanding on things most Americans (I can't speak for other nationalities) already believe: the lif
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Aug 19, 2010
Doug
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Full disclosure: I only read about half the essays in this book. Granted that most of these pieces are dated (20+ years old), they still contain prescient and eerily familiar reflections the rise of big agribusiness and the loss of small farms, small schools, and community. Okay, I get that...
Nonetheless, I found his stance on technology, cities, and culture extremely simplistic and monotonous. Berry seems to think that ALL of society's ills could be cured if everybody simply wen More...
Nonetheless, I found his stance on technology, cities, and culture extremely simplistic and monotonous. Berry seems to think that ALL of society's ills could be cured if everybody simply wen More...
Jun 20, 2011
Leslie
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What can I say---it's Wendell Berry! I try to reserve my worship for the One and Only, but I'm deeply appreciative of Berry's perspective, that can infuse our daily actions with the kind of thought they deserve. Our culture inspires a kind of numb consumerism that Berry wakes us up from. I am not a primitivist--though I do spend my summers at a fishcamp in the wilderness with an outhouse, no shower, all that---and I reject the notion that working the soil is the only legitimate work for humanki
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Jul 22, 2010
Tara
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Oh man, I am passionately devoted to Wendell Berry. I say too many things sarcastically, but I am dead serious. I can pinpoint the moment when I looked up and said "Oh, I am in love with this author's mind.I am becoming a fucking farmer and moving to Asheville and growing my own vegetables and reading Wendell everyday." That is what happened to me, people. He is right about everything. It sounds weird, but I am so serious. Wendell Berry is excellent and fantastic and phenomenal and mak
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Feb 15, 2011
Donovan
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Urban Jungles
Living in a city, I sometimes find nature a nuisance. Snow might display beautiful characteristics as it coats a meadow, but it certainly exhibits headache-inducing qualities when it materializes during the commute. Vibrant evergreens coating a mountain convey the finest forms of art, yet no tree stands in the way of a property owner desiring a better view. Urban life is ultimately divorced from the land. A simple block-to-block walk downtown provides little to no evidence More...
Living in a city, I sometimes find nature a nuisance. Snow might display beautiful characteristics as it coats a meadow, but it certainly exhibits headache-inducing qualities when it materializes during the commute. Vibrant evergreens coating a mountain convey the finest forms of art, yet no tree stands in the way of a property owner desiring a better view. Urban life is ultimately divorced from the land. A simple block-to-block walk downtown provides little to no evidence More...
Sep 03, 2010
Brad
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I love Wendell Berry. He writes beautifully, carefully handcrafting each sentence. He is an inspiration.
That being said, I can't agree with him completely. True, modern technology and factories and over-specialization have produced much evil. We must beware. But they have also given us much good. Berry is great at identifying the bad, but not quite so great at identifying the good. For example: we are blessed to have machines that can help us make hay better, quicker, and easier. Tr More...
That being said, I can't agree with him completely. True, modern technology and factories and over-specialization have produced much evil. We must beware. But they have also given us much good. Berry is great at identifying the bad, but not quite so great at identifying the good. For example: we are blessed to have machines that can help us make hay better, quicker, and easier. Tr More...
Aug 13, 2007
Mel
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I had already read several of these essays in The Unsettling of America: Culture and Agriculture, but they were worth reading again.
A Native Hill
A meditative history (both personal and cultural) of a hill in Kentucky. There are some lovely, lyrical passages in this work, which is really more creative non-fiction than persuasive essay.
The Unsettling of America
A discussion of the differences between exploiters and nurturers, and how America's economy favors expl More...
A Native Hill
A meditative history (both personal and cultural) of a hill in Kentucky. There are some lovely, lyrical passages in this work, which is really more creative non-fiction than persuasive essay.
The Unsettling of America
A discussion of the differences between exploiters and nurturers, and how America's economy favors expl More...
Oct 20, 2007
Andrew
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Wendell Berry is certainly a prophet of our era. This handsome volume collects a great many of his essays into one place and presents them in a kind of order. My main critique critique is that there are too many essays here. Though Berry is an excellent essayist, I found myself tiring of his voice about two thirds of the way through. Perhaps a slimmer volume would have prevented this. I'm also willing to lay this problem at the feet of the collection as a concept. No doubt, in their original con
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Jul 16, 2009
Sharon
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I am currently self-exiled in the countryside, and I picked up this book thinking, who better to foster in me a love of rural life than Wendell Berry? Instead of being filled with warm fuzzy feelings for all things agricultural, however, I finished the book with an expanded sense of community, a wider understanding of internesting economies, and what it means to live with the rest of the world in mind.
I appreciated the fact that this collection provides the date of original publicat More...
I appreciated the fact that this collection provides the date of original publicat More...
Jan 14, 2010
Chris
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I'm grateful for this book. The subjects he takes up through the essays vary considerably, but his theme remains strong and consistent - that we, as a culture of consumers in modern America, are losing something from our divorce from the land and what it bears. Not only food, but sense of place and purpose. This one is a really nice collection of essays written over a span of decades. A great place to get a mouthful of Berry's critical nonfiction.
Jul 26, 2011
Carol
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This may be the Berry book I return to most often. Although many of the essays are over two decades old, they speak prophetically to key issues we face today: misuse of our environment, policies that harm small farmers, a misguided belief in consumption as a route to happiness, global corporations with no loyalty to the health of local communities. His assessments are sobering, convincing, and impressively insightful.
Dec 16, 2010
Kristi
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Wendell Berry has certainly captured my heart - and my mind - with this collection of essays. Berry is an astute, witty, and poetic writer, and does not shy away from boldly confronting and challenging the status quo and generally accepted ways of living and going about life. His wisdom and insight is unique and much needed in our world. I found myself longing more for the rolling hills and quiet of a more agrarian lifestyle with each essay, while simultaneously longing I could have Mr. Berry a
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Nov 21, 2011
Carol
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Wendell Berry is so sensible and down to earth. He brings such practical common sense to cut through the confusing veils of politics and economics. With the upheaval going on today around the world financial situation we could benefit from listening to Wendell Berry and getting more sensible about how we live.
Jan 17, 2012
Nate
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Yet again, Wendell Berry helps me to see my ignorance in my dealings with economy and Christianity. Though we differ on some points, his writing, especially the 2 essays on Agrarian religion, calls forth strong emotions from me and a desire to live and interact with GOD's creation in a way that He will say to me, "Well done good and faithful servant."
May 13, 2010
Maggie
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See my analysis of this book in the 2003 Magill's Literary Annual. Berry adds to our understanding of the basic human experience through his clear-eyed view of the importance of our relationship to the earth.
Sep 30, 2008
Claudia
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If you are looking for a book that bundles Wendell Berry's more telling agrarian writing, then this is the book for you.
In reading Berry's essays, most often about the transition of small farms to corporate conglomerates, I often find myself wondering how long the U.S. can continue on its trajectory of "progress."
This anthology of Berry's agrarian writing had the same effect, prompting questions and thought about a variety of themes, including faith, family, sex More...
In reading Berry's essays, most often about the transition of small farms to corporate conglomerates, I often find myself wondering how long the U.S. can continue on its trajectory of "progress."
This anthology of Berry's agrarian writing had the same effect, prompting questions and thought about a variety of themes, including faith, family, sex More...
Jul 21, 2011
Charity
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Berry is a great poet. However, he does not demonstrate any deep insights in this book. He sounded like Greening of America, all grown up.
It might appeal to some people, but I found it tiresome.
It might appeal to some people, but I found it tiresome.
Mar 27, 2011
Emily
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This is a great introduction to the work of Wendell Berry, the grand-daddy of the critique of industrial agriculture. He was urging people to eat more locally produced food long before the locavore movement was cool. He emphasizes that eating IS an agricultural act, and calls for people in urban areas to learn more about where there food is coming from - who farms it, how the land and the animals are treated, and so on. I dont' agree with everything he says, but I like the bulk of it, and am gla
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Apr 22, 2009
Scott
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As always, Berry provides challenging ideas that generate good conversation. While I don't always see the whole of his vision, I think that it is a pretty one.
Mar 30, 2008
Corinne
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Although I truly feel like this book has changed my way of thinking, I cannot give it four stars because it was incredibly difficult for me to get through. I appreciated so many of his ideas and I felt like he has very important things to say - he just was not concise enough for me. Several of the essays seemed to be about the same things and even within essays I sometimes felt like he was talking in circles. That said, however, some of these essays are truly astounding. They can change your out
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Mar 26, 2009
Levi
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You will probably want to start farming after reading these essays, which is actually better than you might think.
Aug 22, 2010
Aris
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I really want to give this 5 stars except some of the problems presented are oversimplified, and some are offensive.
Feb 09, 2009
Wendell Berry has rightfully earned his place as one of the prolific thinkers of our day and age.
Jul 07, 2008
I have been very interested n the nouvelle agrarian movement - As I understand it this fellow, Wendell Berry is the fellow that early on warned against big agribusiness and an early proponent of the small farm. Quote from article by John T. Edge in Feb 2008 Gourmet Mag: "Wendell Berry's eloquent contrarian voice has changed the way we think about agriculture. He understands the value of the small, the singular." "Wendell Berry, our oracle of radical agrarian thought, the man who
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Feb 02, 2011
Justin
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Outstanding, but the last few essays drag. The first one, "A Native Hill," had me hooked.
Oct 11, 2010
Laura
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Hard core masterpiece. Mr. Berry elevates our thoughts and our species (hopefully).
Apr 08, 2009
Jessica
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one of my all time favorite books. and writer. i would say this about any of his books.
