( 6 reviews )
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Posted: Apr 22 2009
I read an interview Sanders in the AWP Chronicle and liked his sensibility. Since I've lived in the same place for 40 years, I thought this would be an interesting read. This is not a book that one tears through. Rather it requires a slow thoughtful approach which is in keeping with Sanders perspective on staying put. It takes time and consideration to make a home in a restless world. Sanders writing and thinking is in keeping with Wendell Berry. Both require the reader to look at place with fresh eyes. The essay entitled the "Force of Moving Water" was meditative, descriptive, informative, and as powerful and soothing and disturbing as it's subject matter, the Ohio River. The piece on Sander's anxious late night wandering, "The Earth's Body," was evocative, highly personal, and deeply intelligent. Take your time with this book; you need to absorb Sanders through skin, breath, and the soles of your feet, in the same way you come to know the place you choose to make your home.
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( 1 of 6 found this review helpful ) Posted: Feb 2 2007
My book club read this book and we all agreed that this was the worst book we read in the history of our club. The meandering flowery prose is laughable and the point of the book was still a mystery after finishing it.
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( 9 of 55 found this review helpful ) Posted: Jan 1 2002
because you'll want to toss it in the fireplace when you're finished. If you're not quite sure what an elitist academician is, read "Staying Put" and you'll never again have any doubt. Sanders clearly occupies the lower ranks of this group, but he fits the mold perfectly of a pompous professor who believes no thought that pops into his head, no matter how tiny, must go unexpressed. Of course, I may be wrong. This book may be a shrewd satire of such a blowhard personality, but I doubt it. In any case, it is a waste of time and money.
