Wendell Berry's Preface to the writings of Eric Gill

The manifest failure of the misdirected genius of industrialism, together with the consequently enlarged need for good work, defines newly and urgently the pertinence of the teachings of Eric Gill. Gill (1882-1940) was a Christian, a remarkably versatile artist, and a philosopher remarkable for his willingness to carry principles to the test of practicality. As a thinker, we might say, his genius was for applied culture. Or it may have consisted simply of his ability to see what was perfectly obvious: that the ways and values of the industrial world contradict at every point the traditionally prescribed ways of giving honor to God and Nature and Humankind.

Read all of "Eric Gill and the Integrity of Work" by Wendell Berry at The Progressive.

Site News: Wendell Berry fiction listed in Narrative Order

Many long-term followers of Wendell Berry's fiction have become used to reading the work as it appears, more or less in order of publication. I'm a particular fan of this approach. It includes the joy of discovering new insights or shifts of perspective "in real time" along with the author. But clearly this isn't the only way to read the news of Port William. A growing number of readers want to experience it imaginatively from an historical point of view, as in "What are the oldest tales of Port William? And how did they grow?"

More and more often, I find people on social media asking about where to begin reading Wendell Berry or what to read next. There is help for them HERE. And lately there's another concern among readers who are looking for an orderly and complete-as-possible immersion into the life of Port William. Counterpoint Press began to help these folks back in 2004 with the release of That Distant Land, whose Table of Contents lists not only short stories but novels, as well, according to their narrative chronology. This was followed in 2012 by A Place in Time. In 2018 this work continued when The Library of America published Wendell Berry: Port William Novels & Stories, The Civil War to World War II.

Leaning on these three works and a range of other resources (along with good nudges from members of The Wendell Berry Society at Facebook), I've put together a list of all presently available Port William fiction according to their narrative order— the chronological order in which the events of the stories take place— right HERE.