
Reviewed by electronic marketing manager, Laura Baich
Have you ever connected with an author's writing so much that you wished you could become friends in real life? That's the way I feel about Scott Russell Sanders. Earth Works, his latest collection of essays, is the third book I've read by him, and I'm sure it will not be the last.
The book begins with an essay on essays. Sanders calls this kind of writing "a brash and foolhardy form...which relies on the tricks of anecdote, conjecture, memory, and wit to enthrall us." And enthrall us is exactly what Sanders does as a master craftsman of the essay.
Sanders covers a variety of topics In the book's 30 essays, including his Midwestern background, his father's drinking, his opposition to war, the ideology of consumerism, and our connection to each other and the Earth. But the common thread woven throughout all the essays is Sanders' contemplation of life—not only his, but all life on the Earth—and what it means to be part of the world.
And this is why I keep returning to Sanders. Because, as he writes in the preface, the sources of many of his essays are questions that "must occur to every inquisitive soul." He eloquently examines thoughts I've had about living a good life, our role in the universe, and our connection to anything eternal. Sanders says that the answers he "come[s] up with are always partial and tentative, subject to rethinking in light of new knowledge or further reflection." But for me, the pleasure in reading the essays comes not so much from discovering his answer to a perennial question of life, but more from learning about the journey he took to get there.
So why else should you read Scott Russell Sanders? The members of the "What Would Scott Russell Sanders Do?" Facebook group sum it up best:
"If ever in need of life guidance, consider: WWSRSD? The man, the myth, the legend... Scott Sanders dispenses wisdom like it's his job—OH WAIT, IT IS."