What Are People For?
Essays
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- $11.99
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- $11.99
Publisher Description
In the twenty-two essays collected here, Wendell Berry, whom The Christian Science Monitor called "the prophetic American voice of our day," conveys a deep concern for the American economic system and the gluttony of consumerism
Wendell Berry identifies himself as both "a farmer of sorts and an artist of sorts," which he deftly illustrates in the scope of these essays. Ranging from America’s insatiable consumerism and household economies, to literary subjects and America’s attitude toward waste, Berry gracefully navigates from one topic to the next, discussing the ills plaguing America and the growing gap between people and the land. Despite the somber nature of these writings, his inimitable voice and prose provide an underlying sense of faith and hope.
Framing his reflections with poetic responsibility, and standing up as a firm believer in the power of the human race, Berry encourages all of us to not only to fix our past mistakes but to build on Earth a sustainable future for all.
PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
Poet, novelist and critic Berry ( Remembering ) identifies himself as ``a farmer of sorts and an artist of sorts,'' thereby indicating the scope of these 22 prodding, opinionated pieces. He touches on literary subjects as well as agrarianism, environmentalism and other political issues, his splendid writing infusing each topic with his sense of its urgency. Wallace Stegner is esteemed as a regionalist who protects the integrity of his literary terrain, unlike the many who write ``exploitively, condescendingly, and contemptuously'' of their milieus; and Edward Abbey is praised because he ``does not simply submit to our criticism, as does any author who publishes; he virtually demands it.'' Shifting from art to farming in ``Economy and Pleasure,'' Berry notes that, ``More and more, we take for granted that work must be destitute of pleasure.'' In ``Waste,'' he calls our attitude toward garbage the ``symbiosis of an unlimited greed at the top and a lazy . . . consumptiveness at the bottom.'' And in the title essay, he wryly observes that agricultural economists say there are too many farmers--but not too many agricultural economists.
