In this fresh approach to Wendell Berry's entire literary canon,
Janet Goodrich argues that Berry writes primarily as an
autobiographer and as such belongs to the tradition of
autobiography. Goodrich maintains that whether Berry is writing
poetry, fiction, or prose, he is imagining and re-imagining his own
life from multiple perspectives -- temporal as well as imaginative.
With these ongoing re-creations of his own life through the
different vocations that comprise his being, Berry imaginatively
shapes his experience into literary artifice. Goodrich identifies
five of these vocations -- the autobiographer, the poet, the
farmer, the prophet, and the neighbor -- and traces them in the
body of Berry's work where they are consistently identifiable in
the authorial voice and obvious to the imagination in fictive
characterizations. Berry's writings express these "personae" as
they develop, partly by intent and partly by chance, and it is this
complexity of perspective the enables Berry to write and rewrite
his experience in ways that allow him to connect with his
readers.
Goodrich's book is organized thematically into five chapters,
each examining one of Berry's imaginative voices. Within each
chapter, she has proceeded chronologically through Berry's work in
order to trace the development in each point of view. Thus, the
study opens the possibility of understanding Berry's writings
without reducing him. By acknowledging the relationships between
different themes and patterns of language in the texts, Goodrich
helps the reader appreciate the richness with which Berry writes
his life into art.
Whereas others have categorized Berry according to just one of
his many facets, The UnforeseenSelf in the Works of Wendell Berry
takes account of his work in all its complexity, providing a
coherent critical context and method of study. Reconciling the
sometimes-contradictory labels pinned on Berry, this vital study of
his poems, stories, and essays from 1957 to 2000 offers an
enriching and much-needed new perspective for Berry's growing,
diverse readership.
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