The World-Ending Fire: The Essential Wendell Berry

Product Description

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.

Review

New & Noteworthy, The New York Times Book Review

A Kirkus Reviews Best Book of the Year

One of Spirituality & Practice’s Best Spiritual Books of the Year

“If these essays were required reading, I think our society would be in a lot better shape.” ―Nick Offerman,
Entertainment Weekly

“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

“America’s greatest philosopher on sustainable life and living.” ―
Chicago Tribune

“A fascinating tribute to the life of the land . . . Berry’s writings are timelier than ever.” ―Laura Garmeson,
Financial Times

“Berry reminds us that to take small solutions off the table is also a kind of giving up. Some conservationists believe that because ecological problems are structural, there is no point in growing and cooking your own food, in setting down roots in a community, in being kind to your neighbors . . . You may as well drive as much as you want, waste paper towels, and buy meat from corporations that keep pigs in excrement-coated cages. Berry reminds us that to live this way is to forfeit our souls. It is important―no matter what is going on at a macro level―to be kind to your family, your neighbors and the land.” ―
The New Republic

“Compelling, luminous . . . our modern-day Thoreau. He is unlike anybody else writing today. He writes at least as well as George Orwell and has an urgent message for modern industrial capitalism . . . nobody can risk ignoring him.” ―Andrew Marr,
New Statesman

“This collection sees the American published on these islands for the first time, and now he has finally stepped ashore, it’s worth getting to know him . . . Berry overturns plenty of thoughtful topsoil on environmental issues with a precise pen, and clears any thicket of cosy consensus with a clear eye and cutting hand.” ―
Irish Times

“It’s no great observation to note that we live in an incredibly polarized time, but, curiously, Berry doesn’t fit neatly into the conservative or liberal camp. There is just enough in his writing to both satisfy and provoke those of all ideological allegiances. Thanks to the Library of America’s efforts to reissue his writings beginning with the first half of his Port William novels and stories as well as his long-time publisher Counterpoint releasing
The World-Ending Fire: The Essential Wendell Berry, a collection of his non-fiction edited by the aforementioned Kingsnorth, it’s never been easier to find a place to start . . . In these times we could all use his patient instruction.” ―
Psychology Today

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The World-Ending Fire: The Essential Wendell Berry is a selection of 31 essays spanning five decades of his works, and it cou