A Jar of Wild Flowers: Essays in Celebration of John Berger - Hardcover

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 1783608803 ISBN 13: 9781783608805

Publisher: Zed Books, 2016

Synopsis

In celebration of the ninetieth birthday of eminent artist and writer John Berger, AJar of Wild Flowers brings together essays, reflections, and conversations about his work. For decades, Berger’s poetic humanism has inspired and brought together historically, geographically, and socially disparate subjects. His work continues to unite genres and range across types of experience, opening up radical questions about the meaning of belonging and community. In keeping with this spirit, the contributions to A Jar of Wild Flowers challenge us to take the brave step outside ourselves to offer extended generosity and compassion.
 
This international and cross-cultural collection includes short pieces by thirty of Berger’s friends, artistic collaborators, and others inspired by his work, including Julie Christie, Sally Potter, Ram Rahman, Ali Smith, Nick Thorpe, Hsiao-Hung Pai, and many others. This will be an anthology to be treasured by any fan of Berger’s extensive and influential ouevre. 
 

About this title

About the Author

Yasmin Gunaratnam is a reader in sociology at Goldsmiths University. Her previous books include Death and the Migrant. Amarjit Chandan has published seven collections of poetry and four books of essays. His poems have appeared in anthologies and magazines worldwide.
 
 

Review

"Berger's most tangible influences were that tiny band of intellectuals who combined fine-art criticism with a social conscience: John Ruskin; Oscar Wilde; Walter Benjamin. Great writers all, and 82-year-old Berger is their equal." (The Guardian)

"Berger's republished works underscore that it is still very much possible, even long after the heyday of literary modernism has passed, to be formally adventurous and deeply readable, sharply critical of the status quo and unremittingly humane—all at the same time." (New Statesman)

"Berger’s gift was always to make wild, enlightening connections, darting between centuries and genres, anchoring aesthetic response within his own experiences of urban and rural life." (Financial Times)

"In Berger’s hands, then, art itself is a kind of criticism. It 'cannot be used to explain the mysterious,' only to make the mysterious 'easier to notice.' For all that he has written, his genius is evident not in what he says of art, but in his ability to amplify its many voices." (Slate)

“Berger has made the world a better place to live in. I do not say this lightly. These essays tell us how he succeeded in that task.” (Arundhati Roy, author of Capitalism: A Ghost Story)

“An outstanding celebration of the commitment, compassion, and fierceness of John’s generosity in his life and work. For decades, Berger has sought the heart of things and given strength. Come to this beautiful book for solidarity, for vision, and the affirmation that some voices are so true they must be heard.” (Anne Michaels)

“Like Berger himself: remarkable in every sense. This collection is expansive, intimate, sensuous, poetic, and political. A book that enriches the soul.” (Suad Amiry)

“The essays in this collection speak to the great range of Berger’s writing that time and again reveals a crucial and often unspoken history of our times.”
  (Michael Ondaatje, author of The English Patient)

“Berger’s archive testifies to his lifelong interest in the collaborative possibilities of letter-writing.”
  (Daily Telegraph)

“He knew very well that writing has its limitations. By itself, writing cannot rebalance the inequities of the present or establish new ways of seeing. Yet he wrote with hope. He showed us in his work and—by example—other possibilities for living a life that was committed to criticising inequality, while celebrating the beauty in the world, giving attention to its colour, rhythm and joyous surprises. We remain endowed and indebted to him.”
  (The Conversation)

About this edition

• Publisher: Zed Books
• Publication date: 2016
• ISBN 10: 1783608803
• ISBN 13: 9781783608805
• Binding: Hardcover
• Number of pages: 416
• Editor: Gunaratnam Yasmin