Anything We Love Can Be Saved: A Writer's Activism [Hardcover]

Alice Walker (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: April 1, 1997

America's beloved author of The Color Purplewrites here about her life as an activist, in a book rich in belief in the world as savable, if only we will act on our beliefs. Here are a superb writer's thoughts on politics, culture, feminism, race, religion, raising a daughter, writing and living.

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com Review

Alice Walker, author of The Color Purple, is an international activist and self-professed womanist. This pleasing collection of short essays amounts to a very personal stroll through her psyche. Sharing touchstones and demons, she serves up a spirited defense of Winnie Mandela, accused of taking part in kidnapping and torture; a quest to mark the grave of Zora Neale Hurston, an "African AmerIndian" folklorist who chronicled the lives of Southern American blacks in the 1920s and '30s; poignant, angry witnesses at a conference in Ghana devoted to stopping female genital mutilation; and life lessons her daughter taught her. Walker's opinions are enriched by her poetry and highlighted by the whimsical phrases and titles with which she frames serious subjects.

From School Library Journal

YA. Students pondering the possibilities of becoming writers will embrace this account of one famous writer's odyssey. For poet and novelist Alice Walker, activism and writing are one. Her strong quest for justice resonates eloquently in deed as well as word in this collection of eclectic essays. Wide ranging and anecdotal, they cover topics as diverse as her cat; the scars on the face of Samuel Zan, general secretary of Amnesty International; the "Goddess-given" autonomy of women; and thoughts on an American film, Follow Me Home. Concrete, energetic, and clear, the author's sentences prove that George Orwell is right: "Never use a long word when a short one will do." The result is highly readable, albeit with Walker's lyrical touch: "My heart is by now in its rightful place, in proximity to my hands, which are made to reach out, as I write, to all those around me." And reach out she does, with a thoughtful, original selection of subjects illustrating a mind at work, evolving as she practices the writer's craft. This collection will be highly valued.?Margaret Nolan, W. T. Woodson High School, Fairfax, VA
Copyright 1997 Reed Business Information, Inc.

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Product Details

• Hardcover: 220 pages
• Publisher: Random House; 1 edition (April 1, 1997)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0679455841
• ISBN-13: 978-0679455844
• Product Dimensions: 9.2 x 6.2 x 1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.1 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 4.2 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (12 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #2,329,885 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Alice Walker is one of the most prolific writers of our time, known for her literary fiction, including the Pultizer Prize-winning The Color Purple, her many volumes of poetry, and her powerful nonfiction collections. Walker's most recent book is The Chicken Chronicles, a memoir. Her advocacy for the dispossessed has spanned the globe. She lives in Northern California.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

13 of 13 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars great and touching, it makes you want to change the world!, February 9, 1999

By 

[e-mail] (crystal masters) (boone, north carolina, usa) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Anything We Love Can Be Saved (Paperback)

i love alice walker, but i didn't get what i expected out of this book. i got more. it was so interesting, i read it in a day, causing people to ask me if i had something "due" (i'm a college student) soon. she's involved in some of the same issues that are important to me, including female genital mutilation. she presents the issues clearly and fairly, and gives her opinions on them. she also includes a theory of hers which i found so amazing i could not stop thinking about it for days on end (involving "mammy" dolls and marilyn monroe). i would recommend this book to anyone, but especially women. also, this book includes two of my favorite walker poems, "be nobody's darling" and "never offer your heart to someone who eats hearts", which i thought of as an added bonus.

4 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Pagan to its Core!, December 4, 2006

By 

Debbie - See all my reviews

This review is from: Anything We Love Can Be Saved (Paperback)

This is one of the most wonderful books I have ever read. Anybody who wants to know anything about the soul of Paganism should burn all of their "So You Want to be A Wiccan" trash and read Anything We Love Can Be Saved. Walker's connection to the land, to Mother Earth, and to Spirit is as Pagan as it gets. This book is profoundly beautiful, profoundly Pagan. She understands that we belong to this wonderful planet, and that real worship of deity is not possible unless we're free, including free to explore and revel in our sexuality. She understands our connectedness to other animals, the nonhuman ones, and espouses their humane treatment as well.

4 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Absolutely breath-taking and true!, February 21, 1999

By 

[e-mail], Elaine Morrison (Dallas, Texas) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Anything We Love Can Be Saved (Paperback)

This book of short stories, letters, and poems captures the soul and hear of its readers. I read the letter to President Clinton over and over. I first heard this letter read by Ms. Walker at a speech she gave at Southern Methodist University in Dallas, Texas, and I was deeply moved. One does not realize the affects of the embargo against Cuba until reading this moving piece. I can hear her words over and over each time I read it. Also, her poems are always a MUST! This book is simply a classic that can be read for years to come!