An impassioned and rigorous appeal for reconnection to the land and
human feeling by one of America's most heartfelt and humble writers.
When he accepted the invitation to deliver The Jefferson Lecture--our
nation's highest honor for distinguished intellectual
achievement--Wendell Berry decided to take on the obligation of thinking
again about the problems that have engaged him throughout his long
career. He wanted a fresh start, not only in looking at the groundwork
of the problems facing our nation and the earth itself, but in gaining
hope from some examples of repair and healing even in these times of
Late Capitalism and its destructive contagions. As a poet and writer he
understood already that much can be gleaned from looking at the
vocabulary of these problems themselves and how we describe them. And he
settled on "affection" as a method of engagement and solution. The
result is the greatest speech he has delivered in his six decades of
public life. It All Turns on Affection will take its place alongside
The Unsettling of America and The Gift of Good Land as major
testaments to the power and clarity of his contribution to American
thought.
Also included are a small handful of other recent essays and a wonderful
conversation between Mr. Berry, his wife Tanya Berry, and the head of
the National Endowment of the Humanities Jim Leech, which took place
just after the award was announced. The result offers a wonderful
continuation of the long conversation Berry has had with his readers
over many years and as well as a fine introduction to his life and work.
"These powerful, challenging essays show why Berry's vision of a
sustainable, human-scaled society has proven so influential."
--Publishers Weekly
"Wendell Berry is one of those rare individuals who speaks to us always
of responsibility, of the individual cultivation of an active and aware
participation in the arts of life." --The Bloomsbury Review
