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Back from the Land
Eleanor Agnew
€ 18.02
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Description for Back from the Land
Paperback. When Eleanor Agnew and her family moved to the Maine woods in 1975, visionaries by the millions were moving back to the land in order to disconnect from the supposedly deleterious influences of modern life. This is their story, in all its glories and agonies, its triumphs and disasters. Num Pages: 288 pages, illustrations. BIC Classification: WN. Category: (G) General (US: Trade). Dimension: 227 x 169 x 21. Weight in Grams: 422.
When Eleanor Agnew, her husband, and two young children moved to the Maine woods in 1975, the back-to-the-land movement had already attracted untold numbers of converts who had grown increasingly estranged from mainstream American society. Visionaries by the millions were moving into woods, mountains, orchards, and farmlands in order to disconnect from the supposedly deleterious influences of modern life. Fed up with capitalism, TV, Washington politics, and 9-to-5 jobs, they took up residence in log cabins, A-frames, tents, old schoolhouses, and run-down farmhouses; grew their own crops; hauled water from wells; avoided doctors in favor of natural cures; and renounced energy-guzzling appliances. This is their story, in all its glories and agonies, its triumphs and disasters (many of them richly amusing), told by a woman who experienced the simple life firsthand but has also read widely and interviewed scores of people who went back to the land. Ms. Agnew tells how they found joy and camaraderie, studied their issues of Mother Earth News, coped with frozen laundry and grinding poverty, and persevered or gave up. Most of them, it turns out, came back from freedom and self-sufficiency, either by returning to urban life or by dressing up their primitive rural existence—but they held onto the values they gained during their back-to-the-land experience. Back from the Land is filled with juicy details and inspired with a naïve idealism, but the attraction of the life it describes is undeniable. Here is a book to delight those who remember how it was, those who still kick themselves for not taking the chance, and those of a new generation who are just now thinking about it.
Product Details
Format
Paperback
Publication date
2005
Publisher
Ivan R Dee, Inc United States
Number of pages
288
Condition
New
Number of Pages
288
Place of Publication
Chicago, United States
ISBN
9781566636643
SKU
V9781566636643
Shipping Time
Usually ships in 15 to 20 working days
Ref
99-15
About Eleanor Agnew
Eleanor Agnew received her Ph.D. from Louisiana State University. She has also written My Mama's Waltz, a book for which she appeared on Oprah. Ms. Agnew is literacy coordinator for the Savannah-Chatham County Public School system. She is married with three sons and lives in Savannah, Georgia.
Reviews for Back from the Land
Interesting for anyone who has fantasized about country life.
Baltimore City Paper
Back from the Land . . . details these visionaries and their movement. . . . Provides an excellent survey.
Midwest Book Review
Agnew offers a balanced, critical view that conveys both the profound rewards as well as the stresses that the 'simple life' brought.
Booklist
Eleanor Agnew's lovely memoir of this movement of primal innocence is at once honest and hilarious. . . . She recaptures the period with unerring skill.
Christopher Hitchens
The New York Times
If you’ve ever indulged fantasies of . . . living off the land, Agnew’s new book . . . might make you regain an appreciation for your Maytag.
E-The Environmental Magazine
Agnew . . . understands these well-meaning people, and never patronizes them. . . . Charmingly told.
Jim Motavalli
Dragonfly Review
A valuable personal and historical pilgrimage through one of US society’s countercultures. . . . For nostalgic reading as well as for the scholarship of culture.
J. H. Smith
CHOICE
A balanced, perceptive portrait of the [back-to-the-land] movement.
Leonard Quart
Berkshire Eagle
Agnew has managed to recreate a compelling chapter of American history.
Christine Mangan
Whole Life Review
Her work reflects her gift for storytelling . . . a compelling read.
Encyclopedia Of Chicago
In Back from the Land, Eleanor Agnew weaves together an intriguing mix of her own first-person experiences and those of like-minded idealists. . . . Its value resides in its insights into the painful struggles individuals and families are forced to go through as they attempt to break away from the materialism of a consumer society in order to leave a lighter, sustainable, footprint on this earth.
Jeffrey Jacob, University of Calgary, author of New Pioneers Eleanor Agnew has captured the excitement and idealism of the back-to-the-landers of the 1970s and has followed their countercultural dream full cycle. . . . Agnew’s mixing of her personal history with the stories of others gives this book extraordinary warmth and vitality.
Tim Miller, Department of Religious Studies, University of Kansas Informative account . . . intriguing. . . . Some of the best writing is from Agnew's own memories.
Publishers Weekly
Baltimore City Paper
Back from the Land . . . details these visionaries and their movement. . . . Provides an excellent survey.
Midwest Book Review
Agnew offers a balanced, critical view that conveys both the profound rewards as well as the stresses that the 'simple life' brought.
Booklist
Eleanor Agnew's lovely memoir of this movement of primal innocence is at once honest and hilarious. . . . She recaptures the period with unerring skill.
Christopher Hitchens
The New York Times
If you’ve ever indulged fantasies of . . . living off the land, Agnew’s new book . . . might make you regain an appreciation for your Maytag.
E-The Environmental Magazine
Agnew . . . understands these well-meaning people, and never patronizes them. . . . Charmingly told.
Jim Motavalli
Dragonfly Review
A valuable personal and historical pilgrimage through one of US society’s countercultures. . . . For nostalgic reading as well as for the scholarship of culture.
J. H. Smith
CHOICE
A balanced, perceptive portrait of the [back-to-the-land] movement.
Leonard Quart
Berkshire Eagle
Agnew has managed to recreate a compelling chapter of American history.
Christine Mangan
Whole Life Review
Her work reflects her gift for storytelling . . . a compelling read.
Encyclopedia Of Chicago
In Back from the Land, Eleanor Agnew weaves together an intriguing mix of her own first-person experiences and those of like-minded idealists. . . . Its value resides in its insights into the painful struggles individuals and families are forced to go through as they attempt to break away from the materialism of a consumer society in order to leave a lighter, sustainable, footprint on this earth.
Jeffrey Jacob, University of Calgary, author of New Pioneers Eleanor Agnew has captured the excitement and idealism of the back-to-the-landers of the 1970s and has followed their countercultural dream full cycle. . . . Agnew’s mixing of her personal history with the stories of others gives this book extraordinary warmth and vitality.
Tim Miller, Department of Religious Studies, University of Kansas Informative account . . . intriguing. . . . Some of the best writing is from Agnew's own memories.
Publishers Weekly