The Gift of Good Land: Further Essays Cultural & Agricultural (original 1981; edition 1982)

by Wendell Berry

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347	3	75,438	(4.34)	1
The essays inThe Gift of Good Land are as true today as when they were first published in 1981; the problems addressed here are still true and the solutions no nearer to hand. The insistent theme of this book is the interdependence, the wholeness, the oneness of people, land, weather, animals, and family. To touch one is to tamper with them all. We live in one functioning organism whose separate parts are artificially isolated by our culture. Here, Berry develops the compelling argument that the "gift" of good land has strings attached. We have it only on loan and only for as long as we practice good stewardship.… (more)

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Member:	jgreenham
Title:	The Gift of Good Land: Further Essays Cultural & Agricultural
Authors:	Wendell Berry
Info:	North Point Press (1982), Paperback, 286 pages
Collections:	Your library
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The Gift of Good Land: Further Essays Cultural & Agricultural by Wendell Berry (1981)

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From the book: Restraining – for us, now – above all: the ability to accept and live within limits; to resist changes that are merely novel or fashionable; to resist greed and pride; to resist the temptation to "solve" problems by ignoring them, accepting them as "trade-offs," or bequeathing them to posterity. A good solution, then, must be in harmony with good character, cultural value, and moral law.

PendleHillLibrary | Apr 16, 2019 |

I will be reading more of Wendell Berry. In several instances, Berry articulates my goals and beliefs better than I do.

What struck me particularly was the fact that these essays were written in the late 70s, early 80s, but they still speak volumes of truth. They are still applicable to modern agribusiness! (

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moose42 | Dec 13, 2013 |

Somewhat dated, but every word Berry has written is gold. (

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bherner | Oct 1, 2006 |

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1981

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For Gene Logsdon

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Foreword:
My first book on agriculture, The Unsettling of America, sought to comprehend the cause and consequences of industrial agriculture within the bounds of a single argument: that agriculture is an integral part of the structure, both biological and cultural, that sustains human life, and that you cannot disturb one part of that structure without disturbing all of it; that, in short, though there may be specialized causes, there are no specialized effects.

I have traveled quite a bit in the last several years and ought to be getting used to it, but I never find it easy to leave home.

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The essays inThe Gift of Good Land are as true today as when they were first published in 1981; the problems addressed here are still true and the solutions no nearer to hand. The insistent theme of this book is the interdependence, the wholeness, the oneness of people, land, weather, animals, and family. To touch one is to tamper with them all. We live in one functioning organism whose separate parts are artificially isolated by our culture. Here, Berry develops the compelling argument that the "gift" of good land has strings attached. We have it only on loan and only for as long as we practice good stewardship.

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