Edible Read: Wendell Berry
Library of America, a nonprofit organization, was created years ago with a unique and unprecedented goal: to curate and publish authoritative new editions of America’s best and most significant writing.
With over 300 volumes to date, the authoritative Library of America series editions average 1,000 pages; feature cloth covers, sewn bindings and ribbon markers; and are printed on premium acid-free paper that will not turn yellow for centuries.
Among the most recent additions is a farmer from Kentucky. The living legend Wendell Berry joins authors such as Mark Twain, Walt Whitman, Thomas Jefferson, Ralph Waldo Emerson and others in this prestigious collection.
Wendell Berry: Port William Novels & Stories: The Civil War to World War II, edited by Jack Shoemaker (Library of America, February 2018), presents for the first time a complete chronological collection of Berry’s many writings about the fictional town of Port William.
Starting with The Girl in the Window and finishing with Not a Tear, the collection takes the reader from the Civil War through World War II through the eyes of the characters who call Port William home in one way or another.
Given the reality of today’s world, escaping to the fictional surroundings of Port William is a wonderful place to go. The reader is taken back to a much simpler, though still challenging, time when one’s neighbors were the people who really mattered. The real everyday history of the time is captured beautifully chapter by chapter.
With a daily reading one can discover the pleasure of community in the heartland of rural America. Both good and questionable fictional characters come alive as decades come and go. Along the way events build an appreciation for the challenges facing agricultural communities. Those insights offer valuable knowledge for understanding today’s challenges and a bridge for diving into Wendell Berry’s highly regarded nonfiction writings.
Scattered among the 27 chapters in a book that is not much more than an inch thick are actually four complete books—ones considered by many readers to be among Berry’s finest: Nathan Coulter; Andy Catlett: Early Travels; A World Lost and A Place on Earth.
In the end, all the characters take their respective place in what Wendell calls the “Membership of Port William.” And what a fine place that is.
Side note: Anyone can join the “Membership of Port William” – simply visit: berrycenter.org and hit the “join” button.
You can find this book and more at Carmichael's Bookstores in Louisville or Joseph-Beth in Lexington. These bookstores represent locally owned retailers where the benefits of buying local can be experienced.
