Not-Knowing
The Essays and Interviews
DONALD BARTHELME
EDITED BY KIM HERZINGER | INTRODUCTION BY JOHN BARTH

When Donald Barthelme died at the age of fifty-four, he was perhaps the most imitated writer of his time. Robert Coover called him “one of the great citizens of contemporary world letters.” Here are Barthelme’s thoughts on writing (his own and that of others); his observations on art, architecture, film, and city life; interviews, including two never previously published; and his meditations on a wide and eclectic range of subjects.

COUNTERPOINT | 978-1-59376-173-8 | Trade Paper | $15.95

Bringing It to the Table
On Farming and Food
WENDELL BERRY | INTRODUCTION BY MICHAEL POLLAN

Only a farmer could delve so deeply into the origins of food, and only a writer of Wendell Berry’s caliber could convey it with such conviction and eloquence. Drawn from more than thirty years of work, this collection is essential reading for all who care about what they eat.

COUNTERPOINT | 978-1-58243-543-5 | Trade Paper Original | $14.95

The Gift of Good Land
Further Essays Cultural and Agricultural
WENDELL BERRY

According to Berry, good farming is of vital importance to a healthy culture—the operation of a balanced, non-destructive way of life. Consisting of twenty-four essays, The Gift of Good Land argues compellingly that the “gift” of good earth has strings attached, and we only have it as long as we practice good stewardship.

COUNTERPOINT | 978-1-58243-484-1 | Trade Paper | $15.95

Home Economics
Fourteen Essays
WENDELL BERRY

In Home Economics, Berry provides insights about the passing of community and farm life, the uses of wild lands, and, especially, the sacred economic order of nature, to which human economies must necessarily be subordinate. Whether as critic or as champion, Berry discerns with great perspicacity our personal and national situation in a prose that is ringing and clear.

COUNTERPOINT | 978-1-58243-485-8 | Trade Paper | $14.95

What Are People For?
Essays
Wendell Berry

Wendell Berry identifies himself as both “a farmer of sorts and an artist of sorts,” which he deftly illustrates in the scope of these twenty-two essays. Ranging from America’s insatiable consumerism and household economies to literary subjects and America’s attitude toward waste, 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. He frames his reflections with poetic responsibility, standing up as a firm believer in the power of the human race to not only fix its past mistakes but to build a future that will provide a better life for all.

“He is . . . the prophetic American voice of our day.” —Christian Science Monitor

COUNTERPOINT | 978-1-58243-487-2 | Trade Paper | $15.95

What Matters?
Economics for a New Commonwealth
Wendell Berry

Over the years, Wendell Berry has sought to understand and confront the financial structure of modern society and the impact of developing Late Capitalism on American culture. For this collection, Berry offers essays from over the last twenty-five years, alongside new essays about the recent economic collapse, including “Money Versus Goods” and “Faustian Economics,” treatises of great alarm and courage. He offers advice and perspective that should be heeded by all concerned as our society attempts to steer from its present chaos and recession to a future of hope and opportunity. With urgency and clarity, Berry asks us to look toward a true sustainable commonwealth, grounded in realistic Jeffersonian principles applied to our present day.

"The reasoned and insistent exhortations of a man with a cause who, rather than mellowing with age and wisdom, continues to grow in forcefulness and vision." —Booklist

COUNTERPOINT | 978-1-58243-606-7 | Trade Paper | $14.95

The Long-Winded Lady
Notes from The New Yorker
MAEVE BRENNAN

From 1954 to 1981, Brennan wrote for The New Yorker’s “Talk of the Town” section under the pen name “The Long-Winded Lady,” and her unforgettable sketches of life in Manhattan formed a timeless, bittersweet tribute to the city. First published in 1969, The Long-Winded Lady is a celebration of one of the magazine’s finest writers.

COUNTERPOINT | 978-1-58243-501-5 | Trade Paper| $15.95

Everywhere Being Is Dancing
Twenty Pieces of Thinking
ROBERT BRINGHURST

In this companion volume to The Tree of Meaning, Bringhurst collects twenty essays under the subversive principle that “everything is related to everything else,” in which he explores the interconnections between ecology, the environment, the human mind, and the force of language on all three.

COUNTERPOINT | 978-1-58243-438-4 | Trade Paper | $18.95

The Tree of Meaning
Language, Mind and Ecology
ROBERT BRINGHURST
FOREWORD BY JIM HARRISON

With his trademark enthusiasm and humanitarian approach, Bringhurst delivers a personalized and active study of Native American art and literature, world languages, philosophy, and natural history in thirteen lectures.

“[Bringhurst] is part MIT and part California ashram; when reading him one has the unusual sense that the writer, even without his writing, would be an interesting guy.” —Book Review Digest

COUNTERPOINT | 978-1-58243-505-3 | Trade Paper | $17.95

Lost in Wonder
Imagining Science and Other Mysteries
Colette Brooks

How do we make sense of the modern world? Science is a profoundly affecting aspect of contemporary life, and yet the gulf between experts and everyone else is widening. Colette Brooks bridges the gap by playing the role of curious layperson, serving as a tour guide to some of the most important discoveries and innovations of the last five centuries. Through serious and absurd stories alike, Brooks takes readers back and forth in time, from dark, cavernous laboratories to the pristine facilities of the twenty-first century. Laugh along with Newton, peer at the moon with Galileo, work beside the Wright Brothers, ride with the astronauts of Apollo 11, watch for UFOs in the 1950s, probe the secrets of the fruit fly, visit Chernobyl, or examine suspicious packages in a Hazmat suit. With Brooks as the guide, it’s easy to become immersed in the twists, turns, and surprises of each imaginative leap forward.

COUNTERPOINT | 978-1-58243-572-5 | Trade Paper | $15.95

The Far Corner
Northwestern Views on Land, Life, and Literature
JOHN DANIEL

In this collection of essays, Daniel beams a light on the far corner of America, surveying nature and culture from the Pacific Northwest, spinning narratives that seek to define how he belongs to the land and to life itself.
“John Daniel has quietly established himself over the past decade as one of the premier writers on the West Coast.” —Bloomsbury Review

COUNTERPOINT | 978-1-58243-493-3 | Cloth | $25.00

On Writers and Writing
JOHN GARDNER
INTRODUCTION BY CHARLES JOHNSON

In this provocative collection of essays and reviews, Gardner fearlessly examines the work of writers like Joyce Carol Oates and John Updike to define the core qualities of lasting fiction. Essential reading for anyone interested in American literature.

“For Gardner, fiction is real and earnest. The reader who takes it equally seriously will get much from this book.” —New York Times

COUNTERPOINT | 978-1-58243-494-0 | Trade Paper| $15.95