The World-Ending Fire: The Essential Wendell Berry

"Be a giver, not just a taker." Growing up, this was my father's chief advice. Berry has expanded that phrase into an entire corpus of work.This collection of essays is a powerful call for all people to reconsider the dominant cultural narratives about progress, technology, and the "good life." In the past 100 years the American dream has become extractive. It takes but never gives back. By no one in particular, we were all convinced that the "good life" is one of material abundance, individual autonomy, personal expression, and personal advancement. Without the heir or ignorance or self aggrandizement that so many conservatives wear, Berry retrieves what we've lost by reflecting upon the small communities of mid 1900's America. He presents a vision of the good life centered on good character, strong communities, rich friendship, the dignity of human labor, and the interdependence of people upon their land.If you read this entire book, and it doesn't change your life, ask Amazon from your money back.

Wendell Berry might be the most thought provoking grump you will ever read. He is also a prophet that we need to listen to carefully. There are no big or easy solutions only the persistent call to pay attention to the places we inhabit.

Wendell Berry is not a man of our time but he is most certainly a man FOR our time. Berry is old-fashioned in the best sense of that overused word, but a man whose ideas should be most fundamental to a nation who is often at sea, wandering in the wilderness and unable to find its way back home. This book is a collection of essays imbued with Berry's profound convictions concerning the significance of community, of a sense of place and belonging, and of the need for infinitely sustainable land use practices. Too often he is a voice crying in the wilderness, but his is a voice we forsake at our own peril. He is both a superb farmer and writer. He deserves a wider audience than his already substantial and devoted one.

Berry's essays are important and insightful reading, and I very highly recommend them. This is mostly an excellent collection of some of his writing, but there is quite a bit of repetition, covering the same ground a number of times in various essays. I would prefer that an "Essential" reading collection like this take greater care in editing the collection together to avoid this. That said, WB's writing is very much worth it.

Wendell Berry’s call for living with care and caring with love for the beautiful Earth and for one another is essential reading. He points to how we are injuring both earth and ourselves and gives information, knowledge, and wisdom to help us.

As a reader of Berry for over 30 years this new collection of essays brought to light amazing pieces (like the first essay, written in 1968) that I had never seen before. It is a treasure-trove of work for those who know well, and don't yet know, Berry's exceptional work in this genre. A must have for Berry fans and new readers alike!

I love his romantic poems to his wife. He also did a mini play about a couple whose ghosts visit the place where they lived and loved. Very nice.

My only regret is that I didn’t buy it sooner. Wonderful collection of written work.