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 themesan agrarian critique of culture, agrarian fundamentals, agrarian economics, agrarian religion, and geobiographythese 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.

The Art of the Commonplace gathers twenty-one essays by Wendell Berry that offer an agrarian alternative to our dominant urban culture. 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.

Library Journal

Writer and farmer Berry has long been an inspiration to the contemporary agrarian movement and a guiding light to people who care deeply about the health of their land and their communities. In his numerous books of essays, he has thoughtfully and articulately shown how the current consumer-based, profit-driven industrial society not only destroys our natural world but also increasingly harms our social and personal well-being. The 21 essays in this collection, written over the past two decades, provide both a splendid introduction to Berry's work and a stimulating compendium for those already familiar with it. These are beautifully crafted essays, replete with social criticism, righteous anger, moral guidance, and lyrical wording. Above all, they contain a reverence for the beauty and complexity of our natural world and a call to be good stewards of the earth and our limited resources. Berry states that we do not need to rely on constant technological progress to improve our future: "If we take care of the world of the present, the future will have received full justice from us." Highly recommended for public and academic libraries. Ilse Heidmann, Olympia, WA Copyright 2002 Cahners Business Information.

"The Art of the Commonplace gathers twenty-one essays by Wendell Berry that offer an agrarian alternative to our dominant urban culture. These essays promote a clearly defined and compelling vision important to all people dissatisfied with the stress, anxiety, ill-health, 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 are to the benefit of 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".--Book jacket A Geobiography 5 A Native Hill 7 Understanding Our Cultural Crisis 37 The Unsettling of America 39 Racism and the Economy 51 Feminism, the Body, and the Machine 69 Think Little 85 The Agrarian Basis for an Authentic Culture 95 The Body and the Earth 97 Men and Women in Search of Common Ground 139 Health Is Membership 148 From Sex, Economy, Freedom, and Community 163 People, Land, and Community (1983) 186 Conservation and Local Economy 199 Agrarian Economics 209 Economy and Pleasure 211 Two Economies (1983) 223 The Whole Horse 240 The Idea of a Local Economy 253 A Bad Big Idea 266 Solving for Pattern (1980) 271 Agrarian Religion 281 The Use of Energy 283 The Gift of Good Land (1979) 297 Christianity and the Survival of Creation* 309 The Pleasures of Eating 325 Acknowledgments 333 Introduction: The challenge of Berry's agrarian vision / Norman Wirzba A native hill The unsettling of America Racism and the economy Feminism, the body, and the machine Think little The body and the earth Men and women in search of common ground Health is membership Sex, economy, freedom, and community People, land and community Conservation and local economy Economy and pleasure Two economies The whole horse The idea of a local economy A bad big idea Solving for pattern The use of energy The gift of good land Christianity and the survival of creation The pleasures of eating Berry's essays offer an agrarian alternative to our dominant urban culture, promoting a compelling vision important to all people dissatisfied with the stress, anxiety, ill-health, and destructiveness of contemporary American culture "When a mouse looks at the world, " Einstein said, "the world does not change." "Yes it does, " Neils Bohr replied. "A little."