In The Beginning: Essay-Poems and Others

In this ground-breaking book, Kirkpatrick Sale, the author of sixteen previous books of prose, explores a new artform: the essay-poem. Selecting key sections from his various books, Sale has turned them into poems in iambic pentameter, verses that retain the original insights but which are here presented in a smooth and rhythmical form. Also included are some new and uncollected standard poems.

“Kirkpatrick Sale is one of those writers whose pen will always set the imaginaton alight regardless of his topic.” — Fourth World Review

“The author’s lucid, rigorous prose is a delight, whether he is narrating perilous passages… or steering us through the hazards of learned disputes.” — The New Yorker

“His topics of concern are broad and expansive, just as they always bring the reader back to basic valuing of community, nature and sustainability. Honest, forthright, and so clear in his perception that you can’t help but be affected by them.” — Chellis Glendinning

“Sale is an invaluable guide and teacher.” — The Economist

“If it’s radical and leading edge, Sale probably wrote about it sooner and better than anyone else.” — Utne Reader