Here is a list of the best Wendell Berry books, some I have read myself, some that I did research on, and all have great reviews!
- The Unsettling of America: Culture & Agriculture (2015)
- The World-Ending Fire: The Essential Wendell Berry (2019)
- Jayber Crow (2001)
- The Peace of Wild Things: And Other Poems ()
- This Day: Collected & New Sabbath Poems (2014)
- What Are People For?: Essays (2010)
- Hannah Coulter (2005)
- A Place on Earth: A Novel (2001)
- The Selected Poems of Wendell Berry (1999)
- The Memory of Old Jack (Port William) (1999)
- The Art of Loading Brush: New Agrarian Writings (2019)
- Nathan Coulter: A Novel (Port William) (2008)
- Farming: A Hand Book (2011)
- That Distant Land: The Collected Stories (Port William) (2005)
- Life Is a Miracle: An Modern Superstition (2001)
The Unsettling of America: Culture & Agriculture (2015)
Since its publication in 1977, The Unsettling of America has been recognized as a classic of American letters. In it, Wendell Berry argues that good farming is a cultural and spiritual discipline. Today’s agribusiness, however, takes farming out of its cultural context and away from families. As a result, we as a nation are more estranged from the land―from the intimate knowledge, love, and care of it.
The World-Ending Fire: The Essential Wendell Berry (2019)
In a time when our relationship to the natural world is ruled by the violence and greed of unbridled consumerism, Wendell Berry speaks out in these prescient essays, drawn from his fifty-year campaign on behalf of American lands and communities.
Jayber Crow (2001)
“This is a book about Heaven,” says Jayber Crow, “but I must say too that . . . I have wondered sometimes if it would not finally turn out to be a book about Hell.” It is 1932 and he has returned to his native Port William to become the town’s barber. Orphaned at age ten, Jayber Crow’s acquaintance with loneliness and want have made him a patient observer of the human animal, in both its goodness and frailty. He began his search as a “pre-ministerial student” at Pigeonville College.
The Peace of Wild Things: And Other Poems ()
I come into the peace of wild things who do not tax their lives with forethought of grief. I come into the presence of still water. And I feel above me the day-blind stars waiting with their light. For a time I rest in the grace of the world, and am free. The poems of Wendell Berry invite us to stop, to think, to see the world around us, and to savour what is good.
This Day: Collected & New Sabbath Poems (2014)
Wendell Berry’s Sabbath Poems are filled with spiritual longing and political extremity, memorials and celebrations, elegies and lyrics, alongside the occasional rants of the Mad Farmer, pushed to the edge yet again by his compatriots and elected officials. With the publication of this new complete edition, it has become increasingly clear that the Sabbath Poems have become the very heart of Berry’s work.
What Are People For?: Essays (2010)
Ranging from America’s insatiable consumerism and household economies to literary subjects and America’s attitude toward waste, here Berry gracefully navigates from one topic to the next. He speaks candidly about the ills plaguing America and the growing gap between people and the land. Despite the somber nature of these essays, Berry’s voice and prose provide an underlying sense of faith and hope.
Hannah Coulter (2005)
Hannah Coulter is Wendell Berry’s seventh novel and his first to employ the voice of a woman character in its telling. Hannah, the now-elderly narrator, recounts the love she has for the land and for her community.
A Place on Earth: A Novel (2001)
Published in 1967, we return to Port William during the Second World War to revisit Jayber Crow, the barber, Uncle Stanley, the gravedigger, Jarrat and Burley, the sharecroppers, and Brother Preston, the preacher, as well as Mat Feltner, his wife Margaret, and his daughter-in-law Hannah, whose son will be born after news comes that Hannah’s husband Virgil is missing.
The Selected Poems of Wendell Berry (1999)
The Selected Poems of Wendell Berry gathers one hundred poems written between 1957 and 1996. Chosen by the author, these pieces have been selected from each of nine previously published collections. The rich work in this volume reflects the development of Berry’s poetic sensibility over four decades.
The Memory of Old Jack (Port William) (1999)
Old Jack, born just after the American Civil War and dying in contemporary times, spends one beautiful September day in Port William, his home since birth, remembering.
The Art of Loading Brush: New Agrarian Writings (2019)
Wendell Berry’s profound critique of American culture has entered its sixth decade, and in this gathering he reaches with deep devotion toward a long view of agrarian philosophy. The Art of Loading Brush is an energetic mix of essays, stories, and a poem, which explore agrarian ideals as they present themselves historically and as they might apply to our work today.
Nathan Coulter: A Novel (Port William) (2008)
When young Nathan loses his grandfather, Berry guides readers through the process of Nathan’s grief, endearing the reader to the simple humanity through which Nathan views the world.
Farming: A Hand Book (2011)
The sanity and eloquence of these poems spring from the land in Kentucky where Wendell Berry was born, married, lives, farms, and writes.
That Distant Land: The Collected Stories (Port William) (2005)
Originally published in 2005, That Distant Land brings together twenty-three stories from the Port William Membership. Arranged in their fictional chronology, the book is not an anthology so much as it is a coherent temporal mapping of this landscape over time, revealing Berry’s mastery of decades of the life lived alongside this clutch of interrelated characters bound by affection and followed over generations.
Life Is a Miracle: An Modern Superstition (2001)
In Life Is a Miracle, the devotion of science to the quantitative and reductionist world is measured against the mysterious, qualitative suggestions of religion and art. Berry sees life as the collision of these separate forces, but without all three in the mix we are left at sea in the world.
Best Wendell Berry Books: The Ultimate Collection
We highly recommend you to buy all paper or e-books in a legal way, for example, on Amazon. But sometimes it might be a need to dig deeper beyond the shiny book cover. Before making a purchase, you can visit resources like Library Genesis and download some wendell berry books mentioned below at your own risk. Once again, we do not host any illegal or copyrighted files, but simply give our visitors a choice and hope they will make a wise decision.
Wendell Berry: Essays, 1993–2017
Author(s): Wendell Berry; Jack Shoemaker
ID: 2393172, Publisher: Library of America, Year: 21 May 2019, Size: 2 Mb, Format: epub
Why I Am Not Going to Buy a Computer
Author(s): Wendell Berry
ID: 2976423, Publisher: Catapult, Year: 2020, Size: 454 Kb, Format: epub
Think Little
Author(s): Wendell Berry
ID: 2633734, Publisher: Counterpoint, Year: 2019, Size: 238 Kb, Format: epub
Please note that this booklist is not definite. Some books are truly hot items according to Los Angeles Times, others are drafted by unknown authors. On top of that, you can always find additional tutorials and courses on Coursera, Udemy or edX, for example. Are there any other relevant resources you could recommend? Drop a comment if you have any feedback on the list.