Wendell Berry: Life and Work (Culture of the Land) (Hardcover)

by Jason Peters (Editor)
Key Phrases: sacramental imagination, meritocratic ideal, traditionalist conservatives, Wendell Berry, New York, Port William (more...)

Editorial Reviews

Review
"Each of these sketches shines a different light on a man whose words and passions can, literally, change a reader's life." -- Knoxville News-Sentinel

"Jason Peters has compiled a beautiful book devoted to all aspects of his life and work. Academics might call it a festschrift, or, a celebration in writing of someone's life, but it is much more than that...Read this book, and more of WB himself, and you'll change the way you live." -- Explorefaith.org

"This is a book to be read with a pencil so that passages can be savored and pondered... An excellent resource that deserves a place in both academic and public libraries." -- Library Journal

Review

"This is a superb collection. Berry is one of America's greatest social critics, essayists, and poets, and the grand simplicity and unity of his life and thoughts emerges from the fascinating details of his personal history, captured beautifully in the words of his friends.-- David Ehrenfeld, author of The Arrogance of Humanism and Swimming Lessons: Keeping Afloat in the Age of Technology" -- David Ehrenfeld, author of The Arrogance of Humanism and Swimming Lessons: Ke

"Though the 'characters' herein are real people, there is magic in this book that rivals the best of Wendell Berry's writings. Over and over we see solitary readers grappling with Berry's art and thought amid struggles and in places unknown to the author. The magic is that they receive direction and succor even so. The loving reciprocity of these 'What I've Gained from Wendell' tales is so natural yet powerful it brings to mind planting and harvesting. The integrity-filled life, poetic depth, devastating prophesies, and superlative prose of Mr. Berry long ago achieved a consistency that verges on the relentless. To see his good work gently rise from the page, years and miles later, to touch lives he has not imagined in ways he has not foreseen, converts this near relentlessness into simple grace.-- David James Duncan, author of The Brothers K" -- David James Duncan, author of The Brothers K

"I can't think of any subject matter more timely, and timeless, than the suite of ideas that Wendell Berry has championed over the years. While giving thoughtful attention to those ideas, this anthology also offers rare insight into the person behind the words. Like the unmistakable laugh of Mr. Berry himself, it is sure to leave readers both invigorated, and basking in the grace of this gentle, wise man.-- Jennifer Sahn, editor of Orion magazine" -- Jennifer Sahn, editor of Orion magazine

"Anyone unacquainted with Wendell Berry--man of letters, farmer, recipient of numerous awards, modern-day Jeremiah, and iconoclast of contemporary culture--will find no better overview of his life and ideas than this collection of reminiscences, literary criticism, and tributes. This is a book to be read with a pencil so that passages can be savored and pondered.-- Library Journal" -- Library Journal

"[A] stimulating collection. Berry has long deserved such a masterful collection as this. Peters' volume does what the best of the collections always do: It drives us to pick up Berry's writings and read them over and over again.--Henry L. Carrigan, Jr., Charlotte Observer" -- Henry L. Carrigan, Jr., Charlotte Observer

"The essays collected by Peters unearth a simplicity and unity beneath Berry's complex surface, proffering a source of inspiration for those seeking to live life better and encouraging audiences to forsake worldly consumerism in favor of consumption of Berry's words.--Kentucky Monthly" -- Kentucky Monthly

"If it is true that we live lives of noisy desperation, prone to the seductions of fashion and to the 'thrall of our appetites,' we could do worse than to hear a voice that offers an alternative. Wendell Berry: Life and Work is a rewarding way to begin listening to such a voice.--Paul Doerksen, Winnipeg Free Press" -- Paul Doerksen, Winnipeg Free Press

"The most comprehensive single source evaluating Berry and his impact.--Whitney Hale, UK News" -- Whitney Hale, UK News

""Pairing literary criticism with more personal work, Peters' volume does a remarkable jobn connecting the dots between Berry's physical labors and his intellectual ones."-- Craig Branhorst, Charleston Post and Courier" -- The Post and Courier (online)

""This appreciation of Berry by friends and colleagues is a fitting tribute to a man whose writing truly has the power to change lives."--Carmichael's Bookstore Catalog" -- Carmichael's Bookstore Catalog

""Those who admire Berry's work will want to pick up this book even if they may already own some of its contents, because there is no other single volume that paints so complete a portrait of this remarkable man."" -- Scott P. Richert, The University Bookman

""Anyone undertaking a serious study of Berry will want this book. Those familiar with only one of his genres will find it a helpful introduction to the full range of his writing and activism."" -- Lisa Woolley, Bloomsburg Review

""The wonderful thing about this collection of essays is that it demonstrates just how varied and far-reaching Berry's influence has been and how meaningful his work is to his readers in so many different ways."" -- Resurgence

"Taken in sum, these essays illuminate the life and work of one of America's most provocative native thinkers in which the reader senses what the subject professes he lives." -- Richard Taylor, The Register of the Kentucky Historical Society

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Hardcover: 368 pages
• Publisher: University Press of Kentucky (June 15, 2007)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0813124425
• ISBN-13: 978-0813124421
• Product Dimensions: 9.2 x 6.3 x 1.4 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.6 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.2 out of 5 stars See all reviews (4 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #116,784 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

10 of 10 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars The Man Behind the Work, September 3, 2007

By	Kathleen Nicastro (Webster, NY United States) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

For those who have the privilege of knowing him as a friend, this book
provides additional personal glimpses into the life of the man and his
passionate friendships, as well as revealing the nature of his work as
understood by his colleagues and associates in the fields of agriculture,
poetry, and the art of the essay. For those who have never met him, nor
perhaps ever heard of him, this gem of a book will give them some of
the essence of what he and his work stand for, and will make them want to
seek out the primary texts for themselves. An entertaining and well-
meant tribute to a man who has not only contributed greatly to American
letters, but has turned the ordinary toward the holy (as it was meant
to be) once again.

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars A Mixed Bag, January 15, 2008

By	Patricia Kramer (Madison, WI USA) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

I most treasured the personal essays in this book and frankly skimmed or skipped over the more scholarly pieces. What becomes clear in this book is how many people's lives and careers have been influenced by Wendell Berry, the professor, the farmer, the poet, the philosopher, the writer, and the friend. I thank Jason Peters for this book and particularly the essays by Wes Jackson, Barbara Kingsolver, Hayden Carruth, and Gene Logsdon and for the wonderful pictures.

Her is a delightful quote from the essay by Donald Hall, a fellow poet, farmer and teacher.
"Another thing we had in common was good, solid, loving, and companionate marriages. On one of our car trips, I complained over the useless, trivial hyperactivity of my eyes gazing at women, At any conference, or in an airport on the way, I find myself continually checking out the beauty of young women, dwelling on figures and faces. It disturbed me that I wasted time and energy evaluating quarries I would never mine. Wendell agreed explosively, as if he had been waiting for someone to bring up the subject. He suffered from this idle habit himself, and found himself in lecture halls doing inventories of the female audience. One day, he told me, he saw one face that was absolutely perfect and irresistible to him. It was a few seconds before he realized that his eyes had lighted on his wife, Tanya."

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Peaceable rantings, January 11, 2008

By	toronto - See all my reviews

As with all things associated with Wendell, this book of gatherings is well worth a reader's time -- peaceable rantings is a pretty good description. The most interesting article in the book is, ironically, Eric Freyvogel's, which more or less eviscerates the rugged individualist stance that does occasionally creep into Berry's world -- in spite of the ever-present language of community.