Letters from the Country, by Carol Bly (New York : Perennial Library, 1988; a more recent edition was published by The University of Minnesota Press in 1999)
Rooted in Madison, Minnesota, Letters from the Country, by Carol Bly, reaches beyond local observations to wisdom all of us can share. Written in the 1970s, the essays in Letters from the Country are surprisingly current, offering ways to look at the world that benefit the individual, the community, and the country. Bly's "letters" encourage a self-awareness that nurtures political activism. She also encourages a grounding in literature as a way to be "informed of how the others do things, how quietly other kinds of life are lived, how other molecules behave in quite other circumstances from the ordinary...." You may not always agree with Carol Bly, but she will always make you think about and clarify your own ethics during these challenging times.
"We need a thousand more things to ruminate about together out here. We need conversations that take in the moral aspect of things as well as their money-making aspect. It will bring to the countryside a sorely needed gentleness." -- from Letters from the Country, by Carol Bly
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