Farmer, thinker, and prolific author Wendell Berry has been called an agrarian-environmentalist-localist. In this collection of essays written over the past 25 years, including current essays about the recent economic crisis, he calls for a commitment to a sustainable commonwealth grounded in Jeffersonian principles applied to present conditions. According to Berry, "From an economic point of view, a society in which every schoolchild 'needs' a computer, and every 16-year-old 'needs' an automobile, and every 18-year-old 'needs' to go to college is already delusional and is well on its way to being broke." A foreword by Herman E. Daly (economics, University of Maryland) explains why economists should read these essays written by a non-economist. Berry has written more than 50 books of poetry, fiction and essays, and was recently awarded the Cleanth Brooks Medal for Lifetime Achievement. Annotation 2010 Book News, Inc., Portland, OR (booknews.com)
