Our next book club: “Standing by Words” by Wendell Berry

On August 31, we lost the great American writer Wendell Berry. Often called the “Patron Saint of Place,” Berry was known for his deep connection to the land and his community. Much of his writing focuses on the beauty of nature and people, as well as skepticism toward industrialization and progress. Members of our last book club may agree that Berry and Marjorie Kinnan Rawlings would get along, and they may also give each other a run for their money when it comes to beautiful descriptions of nature.

Berry is perhaps best known for his landmark nonfiction book The Unsettling of America, which argues that industrial farming has deeply wounded American culture. His poetry spans at least 25 collections. He also wrote 15 novels and short story collections about the fictional town of Port William, Kentucky, which bears many similarities to his hometown of Port Royal. Berry homesteaded there with his family beginning in 1965, and he remained rooted in rural Kentucky until his death.

To honor Berry, we’ll read one of his essays for our next stand-alone book club meeting: “Standing By Words,” published in 1979. Most easily found in the essay collection with the same title, this essay discusses the widening gap between words and their referents, and how this decay of language also contributes to the decay of our communities and our land. This essay is sure to provoke rich discussion about the world Berry saw developing and whether his predictions hold true almost 50 years later.

“Standing By Words” is about 40 pages in length, so we’ll meet just once to discuss it on October 20 from 7:30- 9 p.m. Eastern time. If any other essays in the collection pique your interest in the meantime, feel free to read those as well and bring them into the conversation. We hope you’ll join us!

You don’t need to sign up in advance, just hop on and join us on Zoom.

—Sarah Selden Linville, Book Club Editor