Tobacco Harvest: An Elegy [Hardcover]

James Baker Hall (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: September 24, 2004

In 1973 James Baker Hall photographed…these scenes and events of a Kentucky tobacco harvest. We look at them now with a sort of wonder, and with some regret, realizing that while our work was going on, powerful forces were at play that would change the scene and make "history" of those lived days, which were enriched for us then by their resemblance to earlier days and to days that presumably were to follow. -- Wendell Berry, from the book An insightful meditation on the shifting nature of humans' relationships with the land and with each other, Berry's essay laments the economic, political, and societal changes that have forever altered Kentucky's rich agricultural traditions. Berry also adds a deeply personal perspective to Hall's eloquent visual testimony. With a farm of his own nearby, Berry was a longtime friend and neighbor of the families shown in Hall's pictures and took part in their work swapping. In addition to detailing the repetitive, strenuous labor involved in harvesting a tobacco crop, he relates memories of stories told, laughs shared, meals savored, and brief moments of rest and refreshment well earned. Hall's striking photographs illuminate the characters and events that Berry describes. During the 1973 harvest, he photographed the rows stretching toward the horizon while laborers cut a tobacco crop, one plant at a time, until the last row was cut, hauled, and housed in the barn. These photographs powerfully convey the physical experiences of a Kentucky tobacco harvest: the heat of the sun, the dirt, and the people hard at work. James Baker Hall, former Kentucky Poet Laureate, is the author of many books, including The Total Light Process and Yates Paul, His Grand Fights, His Tootings. Wendell Berry is a poet, a novelist, a farmer, a conservationist, and a former professor of English. His books include The Unsettling of America: Culture and Agriculture, Jayber Crow, Two More Stories of the Port William Membership, Life is a Miracle: An Essay against Modern Superstition, and Harlan Hubbard: Life and Work.

Editorial Reviews

From Booklist

In the 31-year-old black-and-white photographs that are the meat of this book, Berry and two of his children, along with many others, help a neighbor bring in his yearly crop of burley tobacco, prized for the production of cigarettes. The crop must be cut at the plants' stalks, carefully stacked on wagons for hauling to the tobacco barn, and then hung from beams near the top of the barn. In Kentucky in late August and early September, this is hot work that must be done with dispatch because of tobacco's relative delicateness. Berry explains in the introductory essay that the work begins as solitary for each cutter, becoming somewhat sociable as the crop is stacked, and more sociable, with joke telling, as the big leaves are housed in the barn. Medical and economic developments conspired to make these pictures taken by Berry's longtime friend Hall the record of work that is now practically extinct in the U.S. but that Berry honors for neighborliness and good fellowship. Superb Americana. Ray Olson
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved

Review

"The amazing talents of Hall and Berry combine to address a subject that is important to them, and through their efforts, important to many others." -- Chevy Chaser

"It is so pertinent to a traditional state icon that Virginians will want to take a look at it." -- Richmond Times-Dispatch

"does not fail to capture the storytelling and socializing the workers enjoyed as they labored over their tobacco crop." -- Agricultural History

"A beautiful tribute to a way of life which has all but disappeared." -- Appalachian Heritage

"Hall's photographs work well to say what words can merely describe: tobacco farming was hard work; it was work that allowed people to survive." -- Coffee Talk Quarterly

"These photographs powerfully convey the physical experiences of a Kentucky tobacco harvest: the heat of the sun, the dirt, and the people hard at work. Berry's accompanying essay adds a deeply personal perspective to Hall's eloquent visual testimony." -- Kentucky Alumni

"An elegy often is sad or mournful, but the pictures and words in Tobacco Harvest also are uplifting." -- Lexington Herald-Leader

"Documents the beginning of the end for tobacco farmers in our country.... The scenes of workers cutting and putting up tobacco leaves are timeless, and in many parts of our country, the work continues unabated. But as Berry's essay makes clear, such a life is on its way out." -- Watauga Mountain Times

"Environmentalists, rural sociologists, and cultural researchers should examine this book and take it to heart. This work provokes reflection on the creation of social and cultural meaning and continuity." -- John B. Wolford, Journal of American Folklore

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Hardcover: 88 pages
• Publisher: The University Press of Kentucky; First Printing edition (September 24, 2004)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0813123275
• ISBN-13: 978-0813123271
• Product Dimensions: 8.8 x 11.2 x 0.5 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.6 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (1 customer review)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,828,659 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A Beautiful Look at Kentucky Life!, December 24, 2004

By 

Teresa A. Phillips "Amish author; http://www... (Lawrenceburg, KY) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Tobacco Harvest: An Elegy (Hardcover)

When I heard that my bestfriend had bought this book, I had to get my hands on it. For I had to work in the tobacco fields when I was younger. The hot blistery days and never-ending work never seemed to upset me. For there is a drive that keeps us Kentucky farm kids going during tough times. It is a dedication- a very sweet dedication. If you want to visit this beauty and get a glimpse of Kentucky life as I knew it, buy this book. Sit down with a cup of hot cocoa. Enjoy it all!