The Art of the Commonplace: The Agrarian Essays of Wendell Berry"Here is a human being speaking with calm and sanity out of the wilderness. We would do well to hear him." —The Washington Post Book World The Art of the Commonplace gathers twenty essays by Wendell Berry that offer an agrarian alternative to our dominant urban culture. Grouped around five themes—an agrarian critique of culture, agrarian fundamentals, agrarian economics, agrarian religion, and geobiography—these essays promote a clearly defined and compelling vision important to all people dissatisfied with the stress, anxiety, disease, and destructiveness of contemporary American culture. Why is agriculture becoming culturally irrelevant, and at what cost? What are the forces of social disintegration and how might they be reversed? How might men and women live together in ways that benefit both? And, how does the corporate takeover of social institutions and economic practices contribute to the destruction of human and natural environments? Through his staunch support of local economies, his defense of farming communities, and his call for family integrity, Berry emerges as the champion of responsibilities and priorities that serve the health, vitality and happiness of the whole community of creation. |
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LibraryThing Review
User Review - willszal - LibraryThingWendell's stuff is beautiful. The title pretty much describes it. A legend in the local food movement. He has a ton of books, so this one is as good as any to start with. Read full review
LibraryThing Review
User Review - Steve777 - LibraryThingThis amazing book challenges one's thinking in many ways- from the dehumanization of our consumer culture to the loss of community to the loss of touch of where are food comes from. Read full review