Wendell Berry wird für sein tiefes Engagement für Naturschutz, Landwirtschaft und sein literarisches Schaffen gefeiert. Durch seine Essays, Romane und Gedichte erforscht er die tiefen Verbindungen zwischen Mensch, Land und Gemeinschaft. Seine Werke heben beständig die Tugenden eines Lebens im Einklang mit der Natur hervor und kritisieren oft moderne Lebensweisen, die diese wesentliche Beziehung stören. Berrys Stimme klingt als Leuchtfeuer der Weisheit für diejenigen, die eine geerdetere und harmonischere Lebensweise suchen.
Set in the fictional community of Port William, Kentucky, this collection features newly reissued stories by Wendell Berry that delve into the lives of its residents. Berry's rich storytelling captures the essence of rural life, exploring themes of community, nature, and the interconnectedness of human experiences. Through his vivid characters and evocative prose, he invites readers to immerse themselves in the heart of this beloved setting.
This volume features a curated selection of nonfiction works by a leading advocate for sustainable culture, highlighting their influential ideas and perspectives. It showcases a range of essays that explore critical themes related to environmentalism, sustainability, and cultural awareness. The collection aims to inspire readers to engage with pressing ecological issues and reflect on the importance of sustainable practices in contemporary society.
The tales of Port William, a little farming community nestled deep in the Kentucky River valley. The tales unravel the story of a town over the course of four generations, chronicling the intertwined lives of the families who call it home
The most comprehensive―and only author-authorized―Wendell Berry reader, "America's greatest philosopher on sustainable life and living" (Chicago Tribune). In a time when our relationship to the natural world is ruled by the violence and greed of unbridled consumerism, Wendell Berry speaks out in these prescient essays, drawn from his fifty-year campaign on behalf of American lands and communities. The writings gathered in The World-Ending Fire are the unique product of a life spent farming the fields of rural Kentucky with mules and horses, and of the rich, intimate knowledge of the land cultivated by this work. These are essays written in defiance of the false call to progress and in defense of local landscapes, essays that celebrate our cultural heritage, our history, and our home. With grace and conviction, Wendell Berry shows that we simply cannot afford to succumb to the mass-produced madness that drives our global economy―the natural world will not allow it. Yet he also shares with us a vision of consolation and of hope. We may be locked in an uneven struggle, but we can and must begin to treat our land, our neighbors, and ourselves with respect and care. As Berry urges, we must abandon arrogance and stand in awe.
The Selected Poems of Wendell Berry gathers one hundred poems written between 1957 and 1996. Chosen by the author, these pieces have been selected from each of nine previously published collections. The rich work in this volume reflects the development of Berry’s poetic sensibility over four decades. Focusing on themes that have occupied his work for years―land and nature, family and community, tradition as the groundwork for life and culture― The Selected Poems of Wendell Berry celebrates the broad range of this vital and transforming poet.
Berry’s Sabbath Poems embrace much that is elemental to human life—beauty, death, peace, and hope. In his preface, Berry writes about the growing audience for public poetry readings. While he sees poetry in the public eye as a good thing, Berry asks us to recognize the private life of the poem. These Sabbath Poems were written ""in silence, in solitude, and mainly out of doors,"" and tell us about ""moments when heart and mind are open and aware." Wendell Berry is beloved for his quiet, steady explorations of nature, his emphasis on finding good work to do in the world, and his faith in the solace of family, memory, and community. His poetry is assured and unceasingly spiritual; its power lies in the strength of the truths revealed.
“This is a book about Heaven,” says Jayber Crow, “but I must say too that . . . I have wondered sometimes if it would not finally turn out to be a book about Hell.” It is 1932 and he has returned to his native Port William to become the town's barber. Orphaned at age ten, Jayber Crow’s acquaintance with loneliness and want have made him a patient observer of the human animal, in both its goodness and frailty. He began his search as a "pre-ministerial student" at Pigeonville College. There, freedom met with new burdens and a young man needed more than a mirror to find himself. But the beginning of that finding was a short conversation with "Old Grit," his profound professor of New Testament Greek."You have been given questions to which you cannot be given answers. You will have to live them out―perhaps a little at a time.""And how long is that going to take?""I don't know. As long as you live, perhaps.""That could be a long time.""I will tell you a further mystery," he said. "It may take longer." Wendell Berry’s clear-sighted depiction of humanity’s gifts―love and loss, joy and despair―is seen though his intimate knowledge of the Port William Membership.
Set in a rural Kentucky river town, the story unfolds through the reflections of "Old Jack" Beechum, a retired farmer, as he revisits a pivotal day in September 1952. The narrative evokes the essence of America's past, highlighting the deep connection between the land and its inhabitants. Through Jack's perspective, the novel explores the enduring values that shaped American identity as the nation transitioned into the next century.
A “superb study” that “reminds us that Williams remains our contemporary not only for the lively cadences and fresh imagery that animate his poems, but for the ethical imperative of his example” (The Sewanee Review). Acclaimed essayist and poet Wendell Berry was born and has always lived in a provincial part of the country without an established literary culture. In an effort to adapt his poetry to his place of Henry County, Kentucky, Berry discovered an enduringly useful example in the work of William Carlos Williams. In Williams’ commitment to his place of Rutherford, New Jersey, Berry found an inspiration that inevitably influenced the direction of his own writing. Both men would go on to establish themselves as respected American poets, and here Berry sets forth his understanding of that evolution for Williams, who in the course of his local membership and service, became a poet indispensable to us all. “Generously quoting many of Williams’ best lines . . . Berry produces a work of aesthetics more than evaluation, of love more than critique.” —Booklist
Set during Christmas in 1943, a young boy named Andy Catlett embarks on his first solo bus journey to visit his grandparents in Port William, marking a significant rite of passage into manhood. As he navigates this solitary voyage, his experiences become crucial moments in the broader narrative of the Port William series. The story reflects on the tension between traditional ways of life and the encroaching modern world, while Andy later reminisces about the tales of his neighbors and friends, enriching the tapestry of his community.
