WENDELL BERRY, an essayist, novelist, and poet, has been honored with the T. S. Eliot Prize, the Aiken Taylor Award in Modern American Poetry, the John Hay Award of the Orion Society, and the Dayton Literary Peace Prize Richard C. Holbrooke Distinguished Achievement Award, among others. In 2010, he was awarded the National Humanities Medal by President Barack Obama, and in 2016, he was the recipient of the Ivan Sandrof Life Achievement Award from the National Book Critics Circle. Berry lives with his wife, Tanya Berry, on their farm in Henry County, Kentucky.
A BookPage Best Book of the Year
Southern Review of Books, A Best Book of November
"Wendell Berry is an American literary treasure . . . A misty
melancholy hangs over every page of this novel. But Berry's powers
as a writer render that heartbroken tone beautiful. Berry is a
master craftsman in all literary genres. No extra word or shabby
sentence mars his work. The reader pauses often to admire the
crystalline precision of his writing . . . Let us hope we also can
embrace Berry's quiet celebration in this work and others of how
people can learn to get along when they share a community. Though
he writes almost exclusively of times past, Berry is a powerful
writer for our time." —Pamela Miller, Star Tribune
(Minneapolis)
"Berry’s powers as a writer render [the] heartbroken tone
beautiful. Berry is a master craftsman in all literary genres. No
extra word or shabby sentence mars his work. The reader pauses
often to admire the crystalline precision of his writing." —Pamela
Miller, The Daily News
"New stories like those in How It Went add context, depth, and
breadth to Port William. They tell us, once again, the kinds of
work we can do to help mend a hurt world. Go read them." —Ethan
Mannon, Front Porch Republic
"Berry’s stories effortlessly portray characters who feel as real
as they do distant—members of a bygone era, of a harder yet simpler
time when things revolved around real life, not the abstractions of
our modern age. Despite being in the past, they are not simply
'products of their times.' Berry is careful to construct his
characters as close to real flesh and blood as possible,
illustrating that the virtues of stability, community, and a life
well lived are as desirable and possible today, in any town or
city, as they were and are in Port William . . . With a mix of good
humor and piercing insight into the human condition, Berry examines
the inner life of Andy Catlett—and a great deal more. Never
forceful, Berry makes his points nonetheless. Andy is learning to
navigate the challenges of a changing world, some times with more
grace than others. Along the way, we can learn something too." —Dr.
Ryan Hanning, Hearth and Field
"This is a work of essential American literature." —Booklist
(starred review)
"Lovingly written . . . Taken together, the 13 chapters in Wendell
Berry’s How It Went create a tale that gently unwinds and doubles
back on itself, not so much like a river but more like a flowering
vine . . . Berry’s prose—in How It Went and just about everything
else he’s written over his long career—is imbued with compassion .
. . A book full of such gentleness, wisdom and humility seems
preposterous in this day and age. It’s also something of a miracle.
We are lucky, in such times, to still have a writer like Wendell
Berry." —BookPage (starred review)
"Lyrical, immersive stories about work, neighbors, and the land . .
. Berry has that gift for entertaining amid serious intent, and the
many lighter, very human moments in his elegiac, cautionary,
wistful stories keep them from sinking into jeremiad without
diminishing his message. A fine collection by an enduring,
endearing master." —Kirkus Reviews (starred review)
"Many profound lessons are found in these nostalgic pages . . .
Followers of the author’s previous work will no doubt love this
florilegium, but no doubt this anthology has something for
everyone. A solid collection from a dependable author, for fans and
nonfans alike." —Library Journal
"Berry’s humanity and clear-eyed intelligence steer the stories
away from simple nostalgia and into a thoughtful analysis of how
communities inevitably change over time. This accomplished author
still has much to offer." —Publishers Weekly
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