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The Mad Farmer Poems
During the otherwise quiet course of his life as a poet, Wendell Berry has become “mad” at what contemporary society has made of its land, its communities, and its past. This anger reaches its peak in the poems of the Mad Farmer, an open–ended sequence he's found himself impelled to continue against his better instincts. These poems can take the shape of manifestos, meditations, insults, Whitmanic fits and ravings—these are often funny in spite of themselves. The Mad Farmer is a character as necessary, perhaps, as he is regrettable.

Here are gathered the individual poems from Berry's various collections to offer the teachings of this amazing American voice. After the great success of the lovely Window Poems, Bob Baris of the Press on Scroll Road returns to design and produce an edition illustrated with etchings by Abigail Rover. James Baker Hall and William Kloefkorn offer poems here that also show how the Mad Farmer has escaped into the work of others. The whole is a wonderful testimony to the power of anger and humor to bring even the most terrible consequences into a focus otherwise impossible to obtain.
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The Mad Farmer Poems
During the otherwise quiet course of his life as a poet, Wendell Berry has become “mad” at what contemporary society has made of its land, its communities, and its past. This anger reaches its peak in the poems of the Mad Farmer, an open–ended sequence he's found himself impelled to continue against his better instincts. These poems can take the shape of manifestos, meditations, insults, Whitmanic fits and ravings—these are often funny in spite of themselves. The Mad Farmer is a character as necessary, perhaps, as he is regrettable.

Here are gathered the individual poems from Berry's various collections to offer the teachings of this amazing American voice. After the great success of the lovely Window Poems, Bob Baris of the Press on Scroll Road returns to design and produce an edition illustrated with etchings by Abigail Rover. James Baker Hall and William Kloefkorn offer poems here that also show how the Mad Farmer has escaped into the work of others. The whole is a wonderful testimony to the power of anger and humor to bring even the most terrible consequences into a focus otherwise impossible to obtain.
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The Mad Farmer Poems

The Mad Farmer Poems

The Mad Farmer Poems
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The Mad Farmer Poems

The Mad Farmer Poems

Overview

During the otherwise quiet course of his life as a poet, Wendell Berry has become “mad” at what contemporary society has made of its land, its communities, and its past. This anger reaches its peak in the poems of the Mad Farmer, an open–ended sequence he's found himself impelled to continue against his better instincts. These poems can take the shape of manifestos, meditations, insults, Whitmanic fits and ravings—these are often funny in spite of themselves. The Mad Farmer is a character as necessary, perhaps, as he is regrettable.

Here are gathered the individual poems from Berry's various collections to offer the teachings of this amazing American voice. After the great success of the lovely Window Poems, Bob Baris of the Press on Scroll Road returns to design and produce an edition illustrated with etchings by Abigail Rover. James Baker Hall and William Kloefkorn offer poems here that also show how the Mad Farmer has escaped into the work of others. The whole is a wonderful testimony to the power of anger and humor to bring even the most terrible consequences into a focus otherwise impossible to obtain.

Product Details

ISBN-13: 9781582439600
Publisher: Catapult
Publication date: 03/01/2009
Sold by: Penguin Random House Publisher Services
Format: eBook
Pages: 64
Sales rank: 882,701
File size: 4 MB

About the Author

Wendell Berry is the author of fifty books of poetry, fiction, and essays. He was recently awarded the Cleanth Brooks Medal for Lifetime Achievement by the Fellowship of Southern Writers and the Louis Bromfield Society Award. For over forty years he has lived and farmed with his wife, Tanya, in Kentucky.

Table of Contents

Foreword ix

Introduction xv

The Man Born to Farming 3

The Farmer among the Tombs 4

The Mad Farmer Revolution 5

The Contrariness of the Mad Farmer 7

The Mad Farmer in the City 9

Prayers and Sayings of the Mad Farmer 11

The Satisfactions of the Mad Farmer 15

Manifesto: The Mad Farmer Liberation Front 19

The Mad Farmer Manifesto: The First Amendment 22

The Mad Farmer's Love Song 24

The Reassurer 25

The Mad Farmer, Flying the Flag of Rough Branch, Secedes from the Union 27

Some Further Words 30

While Attending the Annual Convocation of Cause Theorists and Bigbangists at the Local Provincial Research University, the Mad Farmer Intercedes from the Back Row 36

From Sabbaths 2012 38

Afterword 39

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Related Subjects

Poetry
American Poetry
21st Century American Poetry
Other American Poetry
American poetry->21st century
American poetry->Male authors
Poetry
American Poetry
21st Century American Poetry
Other American Poetry
American poetry->21st century
American poetry->Male authors

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