Small Wonder: Essays
by: Barbara Kingsolver
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Amazon.com Review:
Readers familiar with Barbara Kingsolver will find that Small Wonder, a collection of 23 essays, shows the same sensitivity and thoughtfulness, the same rich knowledge of and love for the natural world, as her spellbinding novels. In "Knowing Our Place," she describes the two places in which she writes: a tin-roof cabin in Appalachia and her home in the Tucson desert. In "Setting Free the Crabs," she uses her daughter's decision not to take home a beautiful (and occupied) red conch shell from a Mexican beach to illustrate our own need to give up our sense of ownership of the earth, to resist "the hunger to possess all things bright and beautiful." Many of these pieces, like the lovely title essay, were written (or rewritten) in response to the events of September 11, which threw into relief the growing social and economic inequities that are so little remarked on in the American media. These are political essays, although Kingsolver is not a natural rhetorician; her prose is too supple and inclusive.She is more inclined to follow the turns of her mind, like water in a curving stream bed, than to hammer home a point or two. But she has a rare gift for apt allusion (from sources as wide-ranging as Robert Frost to Beanie Babies) and for the elegant use of facts and figures. And she is highly quotable. It is easy to imagine the speechwriters and activists of the next 10 years dipping into Small Wonder for inspiration and the perfect phrase. --Regina Marler
Product Description:
In her new essay collection, the beloved author of High Tide in Tucson brings to us out of one of history's darker moments an extended love song to the world we still have. From its opening parable gleaned from recent news about a lost child saved in an astonishing way, the book moves on to consider a world of surprising and hopeful prospects, ranging from an inventive conservation scheme in a remote jungle to the backyard flock of chickens tended by the author's small daughter.
Whether she is contemplating the Grand Canyon, her vegetable garden, motherhood, adolescence, genetic engineering, TV-watching, the history of civil rights, or the future of a nation founded on the best of all human impulses, these essays are grounded in the author's belief that our largest problems have grown from the earth's remotest corners as well as our own backyards, and that answers may lie in those places, too. In the voice Kingsolver's readers have come to rely on -- sometimes grave, occasionally hilarious, and ultimately persuasive -- Small Wonder is a hopeful examination of the people we seem to be, and what we might yet make of ourselves.
Readers familiar with Barbara Kingsolver will find that Small Wonder, a collection of 23 essays, shows the same sensitivity and thoughtfulness, the same rich knowledge of and love for the natural world, as her spellbinding novels. In "Knowing Our Place," she describes the two places in which she writes: a tin-roof cabin in Appalachia and her home in the Tucson desert. In "Setting Free the Crabs," she uses her daughter's decision not to take home a beautiful (and occupied) red conch shell from a Mexican beach to illustrate our own need to give up our sense of ownership of the earth, to resist "the hunger to possess all things bright and beautiful." Many of these pieces, like the lovely title essay, were written (or rewritten) in response to the events of September 11, which threw into relief the growing social and economic inequities that are so little remarked on in the American media. These are political essays, although Kingsolver is not a natural rhetorician; her prose is too supple and inclusive.She is more inclined to follow the turns of her mind, like water in a curving stream bed, than to hammer home a point or two. But she has a rare gift for apt allusion (from sources as wide-ranging as Robert Frost to Beanie Babies) and for the elegant use of facts and figures. And she is highly quotable. It is easy to imagine the speechwriters and activists of the next 10 years dipping into Small Wonder for inspiration and the perfect phrase. --Regina Marler
Product Description:
In her new essay collection, the beloved author of High Tide in Tucson brings to us out of one of history's darker moments an extended love song to the world we still have. From its opening parable gleaned from recent news about a lost child saved in an astonishing way, the book moves on to consider a world of surprising and hopeful prospects, ranging from an inventive conservation scheme in a remote jungle to the backyard flock of chickens tended by the author's small daughter.
Whether she is contemplating the Grand Canyon, her vegetable garden, motherhood, adolescence, genetic engineering, TV-watching, the history of civil rights, or the future of a nation founded on the best of all human impulses, these essays are grounded in the author's belief that our largest problems have grown from the earth's remotest corners as well as our own backyards, and that answers may lie in those places, too. In the voice Kingsolver's readers have come to rely on -- sometimes grave, occasionally hilarious, and ultimately persuasive -- Small Wonder is a hopeful examination of the people we seem to be, and what we might yet make of ourselves.
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Customer Reviews
Average Rating:
Rating: - Thought provoking but not my style
I am a great fan of Kingsolver's, and I appreciate her concern for family, society, and the environment. She always comes across as someone I'd like to know personally, even if I don't always agree with her viewpoints. I prefer her fiction, which is marvelous, to her nonfiction writing such as Animal, Vegetable Miracle (which I loved for its humor and writing style, but disagreed with some of her conclusions). Small Wonder is my least favorite of all of her work, partly because I don't agree with ... Read More
Rating: 
- Small Wonders
Barbara Kingsolver is a remarkable and admirable woman, who lives what she believes at her core.I am truly impressed
Rating: - Inspirational
I found Barbara Kingsolver's "A Small Wonder" inspirational. It's the first time I've finished a book and immediately turned it over and read it again! Ms. Kingsolver is a perceptive storyteller and the way she portrays everyday experiences sheds an illuminating perspective on a better way to experience life - from how we use resources, to how we raise our kids, to how we relate to others. It's a wonderful guidebook for those who are concerned about peace, family and the environment. Everyone should ... Read More
Rating: - Not a fun read, but a GREAT read
We just discussed this book at our book club and it was described as "broccoli". It's a book you should read, but isn't one you exactly race back to reading any change you get. This book makes you think, which is great in modern day culture. We discussed the book for 2 hours and didn't even cover at least 1/2 the topics we could have discussed. WARNING: If read with an open mind, it can lead you to make small changes in your life and your community and appreciate all the small wonders in your own life.
Rating: - Reassurance That There Are Small Wonders and Hope In Post-9/11
Barbara Kingsolver
somewhere outside of Tucson
or
somewhere in Appalachia
Dear Barbara,
Thank you. Keep writing! Although this one is not for sissies.
I feel that I can call you Barbara, because I have read most of your books, and, also, knowing you from your books, you would look over your shoulder if I addressed you as Ms. Kingsolver.
This book of essays predicated by events on September 11, 2001, is an outlet for so many ... Read More
- Thought provoking but not my styleI am a great fan of Kingsolver's, and I appreciate her concern for family, society, and the environment. She always comes across as someone I'd like to know personally, even if I don't always agree with her viewpoints. I prefer her fiction, which is marvelous, to her nonfiction writing such as Animal, Vegetable Miracle (which I loved for its humor and writing style, but disagreed with some of her conclusions). Small Wonder is my least favorite of all of her work, partly because I don't agree with ... Read More
- Small WondersBarbara Kingsolver is a remarkable and admirable woman, who lives what she believes at her core.I am truly impressed
- InspirationalI found Barbara Kingsolver's "A Small Wonder" inspirational. It's the first time I've finished a book and immediately turned it over and read it again! Ms. Kingsolver is a perceptive storyteller and the way she portrays everyday experiences sheds an illuminating perspective on a better way to experience life - from how we use resources, to how we raise our kids, to how we relate to others. It's a wonderful guidebook for those who are concerned about peace, family and the environment. Everyone should ... Read More
- Not a fun read, but a GREAT readWe just discussed this book at our book club and it was described as "broccoli". It's a book you should read, but isn't one you exactly race back to reading any change you get. This book makes you think, which is great in modern day culture. We discussed the book for 2 hours and didn't even cover at least 1/2 the topics we could have discussed. WARNING: If read with an open mind, it can lead you to make small changes in your life and your community and appreciate all the small wonders in your own life.
- Reassurance That There Are Small Wonders and Hope In Post-9/11 Barbara Kingsolver
somewhere outside of Tucson
or
somewhere in Appalachia
Dear Barbara,
Thank you. Keep writing! Although this one is not for sissies.
I feel that I can call you Barbara, because I have read most of your books, and, also, knowing you from your books, you would look over your shoulder if I addressed you as Ms. Kingsolver.
This book of essays predicated by events on September 11, 2001, is an outlet for so many ... Read More
