Words Made Fresh: Essays on Literature and Culture

by Larry Woiwode

Larry Woiwode is a writer of writers--a real American hero--and his prose leads us to delight in the written word in a fresh way. Through the mediums of literary analysis, cultural reflection, and personal memory, these ten essays trace Woiwode's work and thought on such topics as the redemptive fiction of John Gardner, the ownership of guns, the faith of William Shakespeare, and even the difference in news as reported by CNN versus Bob Dylan.

Each essay here seems a kind of heirloom, important and timeless, a real window into the soul of American culture and its literary figures. These words give us a place in which to find rest, and a clarity and depth of understanding regarding today's trends from a man well acquainted with the wounds and gifts of this world. Woiwode offers us a collection of insightful and provocative commentaries that are certain to produce a marked upwelling of joy as we revel in his mastery of language and stimulating observations of both literature and culture. An absorbing work to read and reread.

Guns & peace : on an American icon --
Homeplace, heaven or hell?: on the order of existence --
Views of Wendell Berry: on life against agribusiness --
AmLit: on a writer's incorrect views --
Gardner's memorial in real time: on the achievement of Mickelsson --
Gospels of Reynolds Price: on trials of translating --
Updike's sheltered self: on America's maestro --
Deconstructing God: on views of education --
Dylan to CNN: on news and not news --
The faith of Shakespeare: on my favorite actor --
About the essays

Genres: Essays, Nonfiction

191 pages, Hardcover

First published July 7, 2011

About the author

Larry Woiwode was designated Poet Laureate of North Dakota by the Legislative Assembly in 1995. He served as Writer in Residence at the University of Wisconsin, Madison, 1973-74; and from 1983-88 was a tenured professor at the State University of New York, Binghamton, and director of its Creative Writing Program.

Larry Woiwode’s fiction has appeared in Antaeus, Antioch Review, Atlantic Monthly, GQ, Harpers, The New Yorker, Paris Review, Partisan Review, and many other publications; his poetry has appeared in Atlantic Monthly, Harpers, The New Yorker, Mademoiselle, Poetry North, Tar River Poetry, Transatlantic Review, Works in Progress, and other publications and venues, including broadsides and anthologies.

His novels and his memoirs are widely acclaimed and his writings have been translated into a dozen languages and earned him international recognition: he is the recipient of the William Faulkner Foundation Award, 1969; has been a Guggenheim Fellow, 1971-72; a finalist for the National Book Critics Circle Award and the National Book Award, 1975; chosen by the American Association of Publishers for a novel to present to the White House Library, 1976; is recipient of an Award in Literature from the National Institute and American Academy of Arts & Letters, 1980; of the John Dos Passos Prize (for a diverse body of work), 1991; and of a Lannan Literary Fellowship, 2001. He has also received North Dakota’s highest honor, the Theodore Roosevelt Roughrider Award, conferred by Governor Sinner, in 1992; and in 2011 received the Emeritus Award from the High Plains Awards Committee, for “A Body of Work as Vast as the West.” His recent publications include Words Made Fresh, and The Invention of Lefse, published in 2011 by Crossway Books. His new novel Blackburn Bay is nearly ready to be viewed by agents and publishers, and in 2010 he completed a new book of short stories

Reviews

[Elaine · Rating 3 out of 5]

Essays aren't usually my preference, except for those centering on the Civil War or other special interests of mine. This slim volume by Woiwode is eclectic. It ranges from his reaction to killing a wounded deer to his Evangelical Christian faith to literary criticism, the lack of God in public schools, Dylan and CNN, which he calls Chicken Noodle Network, and Shakespeare's Faith. Still, I found it somewhat enjoyable. Woiwode is an excellent writer, cogent and often engaging.

I downrated it from 4 stars because of my own predilection: if an essay isn't about theology, I don't expet it to be saturated with any specific religious beliefs. I am happy for Woiwode that his brand of Christianity brings him such joy. I already know that Evangelicals as well as Chasidic Jews are joyful in their beliefs, but why do they have to bring it up so often? To be fair, Woiwode doesn't do much preaching. It's more of an underlying feature of his discussions.

Woiwode is a scholar of modern American literature. Reading literary criticism, I find is usually like wading in a sea of sesquipedalisms, made even more difficult by elongated, convoluted sentences that would thrill Noam Chomsky as illustrations of his point that there is no limit on how long sentences can be, nor, apparently, is it necessary for such sentences to carry meaning. Woiwode definitely does not write like that. His writing is graceful. It is eminently readable. His insights are often excellent. In fact, his analyses of John Gardner and especially of John Updike are so good that I've gone to my shelves and dusted off their books.

Interestingly, Woiwode mentions, but dismisses, contemporaries of authors like Malamud, Roth, and Doctorow. I think it's perhaps because they are too Jewish for him. No, I'm not accusing him of being anti-Jewish or anti-Semitic or prejudiced in any way. Part of any novelist's appeal is that he or she resonates with your own cultural outlook, although you can still enjoy and be enlightened by those of other cultures. I would be far less of a person had I never read Richard Wright or Jane Austen. Woiwode is engaged by Updike's theme of resurrection, a very Christian theme. However, Malamud, especially, engages me with his inherent Jewishness. I like Gardner and Updike, but they don't resonate for me as does, for instance, The Assistant, which I think is one of the finest twentieth century novels.

Woiwode's essay "Deconstructing God" about the lack of religion in public schools has merit, but his attack on "scientism" is, I think, unfair and unfounded. He objects that God isn't injected into science and that students are taught to think scientifically. Since my own predilection in teaching was to hammer into reluctant skulls the need to gather data scientifically, and then to use them in analyzing or hypothesizing, I couldn't disagree more. I'm sure Woiwode would break out in hives on my blogposts on the evolution of language on my blog:

http://www.smarthotoldlady.blogspot.com.

My next blog is going to be "The Tower of Babel and Linguistics," which I've prepared readers for in the post "Prelude to The Tower of Babel:Phonemes." Okay, I know this is not about me, except for my reactions to Woiwode. I can't resist mentioning that I did do a post on "Evolution and God," and I didn't dismiss God as a possibility, only Adam and Eve.

Woiwode's "The Faith of Shakespeare" will profit anybody who reads the Bard and/or who views movies like Hamlet or King Lear. He doesn't highlight those plays. He, correctly I think, espouses the belief that one should know something about Shakespeare's biography and the culture he lived in. Woiwode also suggests several books on this topic, which I intend to read.

On the whole, this is worth your while if literature is your thing.

[Grace · Rating 3 out of 5]

Author: Larry Woiwode
Title: Words Made Flesh: Essays on Literature & Culture
Description: Larry Woiwode, the poet laureate of North Dakota, presents ten republished essays on Christianity, literature, and culture featuring John Updike, William Shakespeare, Bob Dylan, and John Gardner.
ARC source: Library Thing Early Reviewers
Writing style: I enjoyed Woiwode’s conversational style and his unabashed defense of Christian belief as his standard. The conversation often strayed, however, and the essay ended up discussing something very different than the title subject. For example, an essay entitled “Views of Wendell Berry” ends by discussing Berry’s various publishers.
Audience: People concerned with literature, culture, and faith. Many of the essays were earlier published in Books & Culture.
Major ideas: Unlike most writers on this topic, Woiwode is quite conservative, which comes out in his essays on guns and his views on CNN (curiously, Fox News is not mentioned). His writing centers around the Christian faith, its treatment by various writers and its preservation in contemporary culture.
Wrap-up: I wasn’t familiar with some of the writers featured in the essays (i.e. Reynolds Price), so those essays were less helpful. The best essays were those that featured Woiwode himself (on guns, home, and Bob Dylan). His essays on other writers were not as good, although this may be partially because I am used to reading academics, not writers, writing about literature. (A sad and somewhat ironic comment). The essays varied in terms of level of interest and level of writing. 3.5/5*

[Staci · Rating 5 out of 5]

In the essay collection Words Made Fresh: Essays on Literature and Culture, Woiwode explores what it means to be a writer and a Christian. What is the writer’s responsibility to his audience? What is the writer’s responsibility to God?

He expresses impatience with what is often found in Christian fiction — overly sanitized stories, calculated not to offend. These fail to tell the truth, which he believes makes them even more offensive.

But Woiwode also understands the difficulties Christian artists face. He acknowledges the modern bias against Christianity, but manages to speak of it matter-of-factly but firmly, without any of the shrillness of which Christians are so often accused.

Woiwode wrote the essays in the collection over several years, so some don’t fall under a unifying theme. All, however, are well-written and interesting, covering such diverse topics as gun control, Bob Dylan, Shakespeare, Wendell Berry, and John Updike.

I love essay collections, but I know they aren’t everybody’s cuppa. These are better than most and worth reading. Any writer who has contemplated the divide between Christian and secular publishing and the Christian writer’s responsibility to the world will also enjoy this collection.

[Nancy · Rating 1 out of 5]

Disappointing. I like essays, and I like essays that mix spirituality with culture, so Larry Woiwode's new book seemed to be perfect for me. Indeed, the first essay - about his experience of killing a wounded deer, segueing into reflections on gun ownership - was beautifully written, and promised more goodies to come. But none of the following essays - mostly literary criticism heavily interspersed with Woiwode's religious and cultural biases - were interesting enough, or well-written enough, to keep my attention. Woiwode's writing is permeated by a deeply weird, paranoid conviction that, due to his evangelical beliefs, he (and other writers) are under CONSTANT ATTACK. I am guessing he will read this review as more of the same, which is a genuine pity; I might have been interested in what he had to say if it had come off less angry, less paranoid, and less convoluted. It seems that when Woiwode begins to talk about God, he loses his ability (and it is surely there) to write clear and interesting prose.

Now I think I need to read some nice, clear, well-written theology.

[Ellen · Rating 5 out of 5]

I won Words Made Fresh: Essays on Literature and Culture by Larry Woiwode as a first-reads through LibraryThing. I admire and enjoy Woiwode's writing (you may remember his fiction, Beyond the Bedroom Wall: A Family Album from a few years ago or at least the movie that was made from it). And this book was no exception.

It is impossible in a brief review to even begin to do justice to his essays, some of which I found more interesting than others but all of which shone with his precise and beautiful use of language and deeply thought out and clearly articulated insights and perceptions. The essays range from his experiences with gun to brilliant discussions of authors John Gardiner, John Updike, and Wendell Berry, as well as author Reynolds Price translations of the Gospels ("wonderfully engrossing"), William Shakespeare as actor, Bob Dylan, and the state of American education today. All reflect his personal relationship with the subject, his responses are both brilliantly intellectual and emotionally vivid.

My response to the essays could be somewhat summed up in Woiwode's own words about John Gardiner: "Whether or not you agree with [him], his opinions are so strongly and appositely put you're force to fashion rebuttals, if you can." (p. 58). I found myself writing long responses to many of Woiwode's statements (on separate paper-much too much thinking and complexity of response for margins). One of the great strengths of many of these essays is their power to make you respond both emotionally and intellectually, to try to think through your own position as well as respond to his).

To borrow a statement of Woiwode regarding Gardiner's writing (with apologies since my use of this quote distorts its meaning in context), I found that Woiwode's essays tell a kind of story in which "no sentence can be lifted from its paragraph without doing some violence to the rhythms or the movement of the story...." Although I have violated this stance twice (so far) I do believe that to quote Woiwode in bits and pieces diminishes the complexity of his thought, the carefully balanced language of the whole piece that works together to describe an experience or lay out a critical response, and distort who the author is as reflected in these writings.

I particularly admired Woiwode's writing on Gardiner as an artist and his essay responding to Gardiner's last work, Mickelsson's Ghosts. The essay created an intense longing in me to run out and read the book immediately (although it seems a daunting if rewarding undertaking). The way in which Woiwode analyzes both the work as a whole while also illuminating particular effects within it (his description of Gardiner's phrase "...-his steps quick and heavy" is astonishing both in its beauty (Woiwode describes it as a "last whispered breath") and its clear deconstruction of craft.

Having again violated my decision not to "lift phrases," while feeling (to quote the prophet Jeremiah) a burning desire to do so, I reluctantly turn to my only major difficulty with these essays. As a devout (I hope) Catholic who also considers herself an intellectual, I was disturbed by Woiwode's intense belief of the hostility intellectuals display towards both Christianity and Christians, what he perceives as their misuse of the word "fundamentalist", their driving religion out of the schools thus apparently depriving students of a moral foundation, and a knee-jerk hostility to any writer, such as Updike, who is openly Christian. I apologize for this over-simplification of Woiwode's arguments and I don't entirely disagree with them but I felt that this was an area in which he frequently abandoned his otherwise rigorous thinking and indulged in what felt to me like impassioned rants that implied that anyone who disagreed with his opinions (his high value of Updike's writing or American education) was really displaying a prejudice against Christianity.

This bias of Woiwode's (as I see it) almost made me drop a star but a) his essays were generally too brilliant to be seriously diminished by what I perceived as a weakness; b) made me see the world-as he promises in a way in his title-afresh; and c) I was a little afraid that doing so would brand me as secretly anti-Christian. The last statement is a little facetious, but seriously, only a little.

All in all, I would strongly recommend these essays to anyone who loves beautiful writing and certainly anyone interested in American literature.

[robin friedman · Rating 4 out of 5]

Words And Places

Larry Woiwode (b. 1941) is well-known for his novels and memoirs. He resides in North Dakota where he is the state Poet Laureate, and he teaches at Jamestown College. Several years ago, I read what probably remains Woiwode's best work, his 1975 novel, "Beyond the Bedroom Wall". My memories of that book, however, would not have prompted me to read Woiwode's new collection of essays, "Words made Fresh". Instead, the short descriptive note accompanying the Amazon Vine offering of the title indicated that Woiwode wrote about literary figures and culture from a distinctively Christian perspective. This is not a perspective that I share. But I was interested enough to want to hear a somewhat different voice and to read what Woiwode had to say.

The collection is relatively short and consists of ten essays published between the mid-1970s and about 2005. Each of the essays has been extensively reworked for this book. The essays vary considerably in interest. The most striking part of the book, for me, was the brief two paragraph introduction in which Woiwode explains what he is about. Woiwode writes that his title "Words Made Fresh" "is meant to echo the incarnation, because it was with the incarnation that writers outside the scope of the Hebrew or Greek texts began to understand how a metaphor of words could contain the lineaments and inner workings of a human being." He says in the book that Christianity was unique, as compared to its parent religion and to other religions, in showing that God could be incarnate on earth in the person of Jesus. His book is not simply religious -- Woiwode writes critically of thinkers who try to separate spirituality from religion or God from Biblical texts -- but distinctively Christian. He makes no attempt to proselytize but rather tries only to offer literary and cultural observations from this point of view. The book has in parts a certain combative tone, as Woiwode seems highly and overly aware that he is writing for an audience that may not share many of his convictions. His voice is generally quiet and thoughtful. It is valuable to read an author when one does not think his way.

The ten essays in part discuss Woiwode's own thoughts and experiences and in part discuss the writings of other authors. There is a great emphasis on the specifics of place and time in many of the essays, as Woiwode shows a great interest in knowing a small place intimately for oneself and working out. The essays vary in length from only 5-6 pages to over forty. The longer essays tend to be unfocused and to ramble. On the whole, the essays consisting of literary criticism are less successful than the essays in which Woiwode writes from his own thoughts, but it frequently is difficult to separate the two.

I enjoyed the opening essay, "Guns and Peace: On an American Icon" in which Woiwode reflects on his own experience and reactions to shooting a wounded deer to put it out of misery in northern Wisconsin. The essay called "Deconstructing God: On Views of Education" is a polemic in which Woiwode inveighs against what he with reason sees as the increased secularization and value-free character of American public education. This essay encourages reflection on what education should be about. Woiwode offers two essays on Wendell Berry "Homeplace, Heaven or Hell" and "Views of Wendell Berry" which combine effectively a discussion of Berry's writings from rural Kentucky with Woiwode's thoughts. Berry is a congenial writer to Woiwode.

Of the essays on literary criticism, the short essay on Reynolds Price "Gospels of Reynolds Price" was the most rewarding. Woiwode focuses on Price's lay translations of three of the Gospels rather than on his extensive novelistic output. He offers a sympathetic portrayal of Bob Dylan and on the figure of the literary troubadour in the essay "Dylan to CNN: on News and not News." Woiwode offers two essays exploring the work of John Gardner, the first of which is an overview and the second of which is a lengthy analysis of Gardner's final novel, "Mickelssohn's Ghosts".

I learned some interesting things about John Updike and his commitment to Christianity from Woiwode's long essay, "Updike's Sheltered Self: On America's Maestro". Although the essay tempted me to read more of Updike, it seemed to me too long and unfocused to work well. The final essay, "On the Faith of Shakespeare" did not seem to me to add a great deal to the welter of words available on this seminal figure.

Different perspectives are valuable. The book will be of interest students to students of Berry, Updike, Gardner, and other American writers. But I would have enjoyed hearing Woiwode speak more directly about his own religious convictions rather than to have his beliefs filtered through literary and cultural criticisms of other writers and cultural institutions.

Robin Friedman

[Amanda · Rating 2 out of 5]

Words Made Fresh: Essays on Literature and Culture by Larry Woiwode is billed as being an interesting collection of essays that will study the words and places which effect our cultural, spiritual and literary lives. I personally do not share the religious worldview of Woiwode but I am always open to reading a collection about what effects our cultural, spiritual and literary lives. I was somewhat disappointed with the collection and it has nothing to do with his consistent repetition of the question “What is the author’s responsibility to God and or his audience?” I appreciate such questions and in order to even attempt to understand them we need some powerful writing that will leave a lasting effect on the reader. This collection was not that. The first essay; a story about his experience of killing a wounded deer in front of his wife and child and how that left not only a lasting impression on everyone, was a bit disturbing and if the collection had continued in such a manner this review would be quite different. As the collection continued the pieces became dry and somewhat boring.


One of the most disappointing things about this collection is the lack of a unifying theme. Yes the introduction sets up what the promised theme is but the essays do not follow suit. It was a little discombobulating to go from one topic to another within the same collection.

What was well done in this collection was the ability that Woiwode had to face some of the stereotypes of religion. Not that I am an avid reader of Christian writing, but what I have found in what I have read, is very polite literature whose aim is not to offend. That was not a restriction Woiwode chose to place on himself. Some of the pieces (the first essay in particular) were shocking and disturbing. ­

I have read other reviews of this book that have stated that he places everyone who does not share his views under attack… that is a bit dramatic. He is strong in his beliefs but I hardly felt under attack as a non-Christian reader. If anything the only feelings I got from the collection were a bit of boredom and at times a little shock. Now as I often say at the end of any review, the fact that I did not like a book does not make is unreadable for another. I can honestly say I have never read a book that I thought… “Oh boy! No one should ever read this book!!!” So that in mind here is who I think would enjoy this collection of essays; persons who share Woiwode’s faith, persons who are already fans of Woiwode’s work and persons who like to read essays (although the last group may proceed with caution).

[Elizabeth · Rating 2 out of 5]

It's only fair to start by saying that I don't share Mr. Woiwode's Christian world view. That being said, it's always a pleasure to read an intelligent, passionate writer, even if I don't always agree with him. Which was the case with "Words Made Fresh."

There are certainly places of common ground. Even in the essays in this slender volume where Mr. Woiwode and I disagree, it's clear that he has a strong intellect and argues his case well. However, as with anyone who feels passionately about a specific point -- it can began to stretch the fabric of your point out of recognition.

So, while I appreciated Mr. Woiwodes essay on Updike, a writer whose work I have never personally cared for, for the depth and richness he was able to bring to my understanding; I had a difficult time with his essay on Gardner, a writer a deeply admire, because we are at opposite poles in our understanding of this gentleman's work.

The juxtaposition of the essay on religion in school and Dylan amused me. There was a basic irony in having these two back to back that I'm surprised the author didn't notice. The fact that he didn't notice, and perhaps like all of us, is capable of holding two separate and competing notions firmly in place without noticing their disconnections just makes him human. Having been raised Catholic, I was taught to believe several impossible things before noon every day, so I can understand how the dichotomy slipped by. Still, it amused.

His final essay on Shakespeare, for me, was worth reading through the whole book. It was a masterful summation of the arguments why Shakespeare, and not Marlowe or de Vere or some other person, wrote Shakespeare. Please. It was the glovemaker's son from Stratford. While I may cock and eyebrow at some of his conclusions, they are less far fetched than some others I have read and at least Mr. Woiwode is one of the few who does poor Anne justice.

The essays are dense. At times, they appear to wander a bit from their points. I found them uneven, not just because I am not, like Mr. Woiwode, a Christian, but because the sway of his powerful intellect sometimes seem to lose its way, and then indeed he lost me as well. But those that are good are very good indeed and I am glad to have read it, especially for the essays on Updike and Shakespeare.

[CJ Bowen · Rating 4 out of 5]

Engaging collection of essays from a fine writer. Woiwode tackles guns, Wendell Berry, education, and literature, among other things. I found the first several essays paled in comparison to the later ones - sis more generally cultural pieces come across as the considered opinions of a cultured man; his essays on literature and literary figures have the stamp of authority. Woiwode is at his best in the field of American literature, and his writings on Gardner and Updike were tremendously helpful. I can't imagine not reading the works that he highlights. The book itself is an unusual step for the Christian publisher Crossway, but may be one of the most beautiful books (in terms of physical craftsmanship) that they have ever issued. A stimulating and worthwhile read.

[Rick · Rating 3 out of 5]

I tend to think of myself as well-read, and above average intelligence. [No comments, please.] This collection of ten eclectic essays --ranging from Bob Dylan to William Shakespeare, from public education to John Updike, and more-- reinforced how little I know about some issues and people who impact our lives and our culture.

[Ben Zajdel]

This is a great collection of essays with topics ranging from gun control, Wendell Berry, John Updike, and Shakespeare. Well written and thoughtful, these articles are good for reading short selections when you have the time.

[Mark Green · Rating 5 out of 5]

Brilliant writing in essay form. The final essay on Shakespeare is worth the price of the book alone as Woiwode rescues WS from the preening egos in the academy and returns WS and his works to us that we may enjoy them in all their delicious, artful beauty.

[Jon Anderson · Rating 3 out of 5]

Collection of essays by a great writer. The writing overall is superb but the content is uneven. Hard to determine why these particular essays were included in this volume. Essays on John Updike, Wendell Berry, and Shakespeare stand out.