Berry’s writings are more needed now than ever before. This collection is a potent antidote to the powerlessness and fatalism that so many of us feel in response to the continued destruction of the planet and of American society. By localizing his attention and his perspective — by maintaining an insistent focus on his town, his family, and his own self — Berry shows us how to gain our footing and find momentum, meaning, and value in a world that feels increasingly beyond our control. 

 

Some essays were certainly more impactful than others, and some of the ideas did become a bit redundant at times. That being said, Berry’s musings are incredibly potent and deceptively complex, so they bear some repetition. 

 

I myself was born and raised in a small town in upstate New York, and I have chosen to stay for many of the same reasons that Berry articulates in these essays. My decision not to leave home — to be, in Berry’s language, “provincial” — seems to be an unpopular one. Reading this book was validating, like someone had finally put words to many of my own implacable feelings and motivations and beliefs. 

 

And now to get on with the hard, sacred work of living well…