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Port William
Watch with Me
In these seven interrelated stories we are again invited to Port William, Kentucky. Rich with humor and wisdom, this collection describes the depth of affection and tolerance for eccentricity that these neighbors bear toward one another, and highlights the comic and often poignant ways they cope with the intrusions of the 20th century into their idyllic, agrarian world.
From the Trade Paperback edition.
From the Trade Paperback edition.
210 pages, Hardcover
First published January 1, 1994
64 people are currently reading
1057 people want to read
About the author
Wendell Berry
290 books4,847 followersWendell Berry is a conservationist, farmer, essayist, novelist, professor of English and poet. He was born August 5, 1934 in Henry County, Kentucky where he now lives on a farm. The New York Times has called Berry the "prophet of rural America."
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 113 reviews
August 18, 2025
When I first started to read Wendell Berry, I enthusiastically purchased a number of his books for my kindle. One of them was a collection of short stories That Distant Land: The Collected Stories, which I read a few years ago. When I purchased this one, I had no idea that the stories here were included in that collection, until I started reading. I don’t often reread as there are just too many books I want to get to. However, I couldn’t help but continue with these delightful stories again. This collection in six stories and a novella focuses on the endearing couple Ptolemy Proudfoot and his wife Miss Minnie. Most of the stories are definitely on the lighter side of what I’ve read by Berry so far. Yet, they reflect in many ways the quiet, hard working, farming life.
“The Consent “ tells the beginning of this love story of a gentle giant of a man and “the finest, prettiest, nicest little woman he has ever seen”. A sweet one, for sure.
“A Half-Pint of Old Darling “ taking place during prohibition - a little medicinal whiskey for the animals made for a good laugh.
“The Long Bet “ illustrates that Tol is not just proud, but clever .
“Nearly to the Fair” adjusting to the changing times or not .
“The Solemn Boy”, the most moving of the selections. Kindness towards strangers and a longing for children they never had . My favorite of the bunch.
“Turn Back the Bed” - 😂
“Watch With Me” the title novella, illustrates that strong sense of community we’ve come to love in Berry’s Port William.
This was the kind of book I needed right now, even if I had read the stories before.
“The Consent “ tells the beginning of this love story of a gentle giant of a man and “the finest, prettiest, nicest little woman he has ever seen”. A sweet one, for sure.
“A Half-Pint of Old Darling “ taking place during prohibition - a little medicinal whiskey for the animals made for a good laugh.
“The Long Bet “ illustrates that Tol is not just proud, but clever .
“Nearly to the Fair” adjusting to the changing times or not .
“The Solemn Boy”, the most moving of the selections. Kindness towards strangers and a longing for children they never had . My favorite of the bunch.
“Turn Back the Bed” - 😂
“Watch With Me” the title novella, illustrates that strong sense of community we’ve come to love in Berry’s Port William.
This was the kind of book I needed right now, even if I had read the stories before.
July 17, 2022
"Watch With Me" is a heartwarming book of six short stories and a title novella set in the villages of Goforth and Port William, Kentucky. The gentle giant, Ptolemy (Tol) Proudfoot, was a gregarious farmer who starts courting Miss Minnie, a petite schoolteacher, after bidding a princely sum for her cake at the Harvest Festival. The stories follow them through a strong marriage, saddened only because they never had children. Tol was a great storyteller with a hearty laugh and a love of his community. Although he was wonderful with horses, Tol had some troubles with his Model A coupe, and one story tells of how they got "near" the state fair, but somehow got hopelessly lost.
The novella tells about a neighbor, "Nightlife" Thacker Hample, who grabs a shotgun which was loaded to kill a snake going after a nest of eggs. Thinking that "Nightlife" might kill himself, Tol and his neighbors follow the mentally ill man through the woods all day and through the night. Although they are not sure if they can help him, there is such a strong sense of community that they don't hesitate to try.
"Watch With Me" is a delightful group of interconnected stories revolving around Tol Proudfoot. They are written with warmth and a gentle humor. As always, I loved my literary visit to author Wendell Berry's Port William.
The novella tells about a neighbor, "Nightlife" Thacker Hample, who grabs a shotgun which was loaded to kill a snake going after a nest of eggs. Thinking that "Nightlife" might kill himself, Tol and his neighbors follow the mentally ill man through the woods all day and through the night. Although they are not sure if they can help him, there is such a strong sense of community that they don't hesitate to try.
"Watch With Me" is a delightful group of interconnected stories revolving around Tol Proudfoot. They are written with warmth and a gentle humor. As always, I loved my literary visit to author Wendell Berry's Port William.
August 10, 2022
These stories were included in the collection, 'That Distant Land'. They all concerned Ptolemy Proudfoot, a 300 pound giant of a man, and his wife, Miss Minnie Quinch, a 90 pound darling. These characters were brand new to me, never having met them in other Port William stories. I promptly fell in love with both of them. All of them were very funny and moving at the same time, and contained some pretty wonderful descriptions of meals, always guaranteed to be a hit with me. As my mother would have said, "Just some good country cookin'."
March 21, 2017
Whenever I visit the fictional town of Port William, Kentucky with Berry as my storytelling guide, something deep inside me stretches out and relaxes. Even though his characters are not shallow, meeting their days with their own set of complexities, I feel like I can relax that truth will be told in the light of humor, humility and grace. It's true that Wendell Berry tells his stories with a determination to protect the agrarian legacy of our nation, but his stories don't ever succumb to mushy sentimentalism about "the way it was" or, worse, back-handed sermonette between the lines of his character's dialogue. (if only James Cameron had learned at the Wendell Berry school of storytelling!)
While, the stories of the kind, lumbering farmer Tol Proudfoot and his school-marm-turned-adoring-wife, Minnie, didn't capture my imagination quite as much as Hannah Coulter and her family, I loved every minute of time we spent together in these six short interweaving stories. Actually, I sort of felt like I grew up knowing the Ptolemy Proudfoot sort of genteel, gregarious country men among my grandparents' generation. And, really, Wendell Berry knows the basic elements of true romance, telling the story of Tol's unspoken admiration for Miss Minnie and his knight-in-shining-armor attempt to earn her attention, outbidding everyone for her pie at the school auction. Who needs a super model leading man and woman with that kind of old-fashioned chivalry? Sigh.
Read this book to rest and delight in the ageless craftsmanship of good story-telling.
Read my favorite excerpts at my full review here: http://blog.thissacramentallife.com/2...
While, the stories of the kind, lumbering farmer Tol Proudfoot and his school-marm-turned-adoring-wife, Minnie, didn't capture my imagination quite as much as Hannah Coulter and her family, I loved every minute of time we spent together in these six short interweaving stories. Actually, I sort of felt like I grew up knowing the Ptolemy Proudfoot sort of genteel, gregarious country men among my grandparents' generation. And, really, Wendell Berry knows the basic elements of true romance, telling the story of Tol's unspoken admiration for Miss Minnie and his knight-in-shining-armor attempt to earn her attention, outbidding everyone for her pie at the school auction. Who needs a super model leading man and woman with that kind of old-fashioned chivalry? Sigh.
Read this book to rest and delight in the ageless craftsmanship of good story-telling.
Read my favorite excerpts at my full review here: http://blog.thissacramentallife.com/2...
May 12, 2011
The New York Times writes that Berry’s stories “are filled with gentle humor,” and I’d like to expand on this. When Berry exposes the failures or faults of his characters, he does so not at the expense of their humanity but in honor and respect for it. In this way we are amused but appreciative, not appalled but encouraged to have grace at the ready. In addition, our challenge is to live up to the best—and even the worst—of his characters, for they all display a humanity that celebrates the uniqueness of each life rather than crudely belittling some and flattering others.
As an example of this, a brief passage from “Nearly to the Fair”:
“Tol had thought it best to ask for the return of the planter several months ahead of time because if he knew Corbin, the planter would need fixing before it could be used. Corbin was hard on tools, as he was on everything else, which was perhaps why he saw fit to get along without any of his own.”
As always, these Berry stories are filled with the beauty of everydayness. If one can afford to read with the same appreciative pace at which these characters live their lives, all the better.
As an example of this, a brief passage from “Nearly to the Fair”:
“Tol had thought it best to ask for the return of the planter several months ahead of time because if he knew Corbin, the planter would need fixing before it could be used. Corbin was hard on tools, as he was on everything else, which was perhaps why he saw fit to get along without any of his own.”
As always, these Berry stories are filled with the beauty of everydayness. If one can afford to read with the same appreciative pace at which these characters live their lives, all the better.
March 12, 2023
This volume was the first of Wendell Berry's fiction that I loved, which either (a) confirms my suspicion that he is a much finer writer in brief than at length or (b) highlights my preference for the brief (his short stories and essays) over the full-length (his novels and The Unsettling of America).
Whatever the case, I relished this book and devoured it over the course of a single, tranquil Saturday. Maybe I loved it because I found the characters of Ptolemy Proudfoot and Miss Minnie Quinch more truly lovable than any previous Port William acquaintances; maybe it was the delightful snapshots (you couldn't quite call it a portrait) of a marriage; maybe it was the older time period of the collection, weighted more toward 1900 than 1950.
In fact, the comparative antiquity of the settings probably did play a considerable part in my appreciation: my two favorite stories were the first and last, the ones that take place in 1908 and 1916. I'm well aware that I like the first — which chronicles the very beginning of the Proudfoots' courtship — largely because it's so conventional, but it seems to me an almost flawlessly wrought tale, doing everything that a short story ought with perfect and succinct aplomb. The last and longest story, from which the collection takes its name, is both a meditation and a technical triumph.
The friend who recommended this volume and lent her copy both piqued my interest by and did me the honor of comparing my husband and myself to the main characters. This made the reading experience all the more delightful — as if we, and she, and the Proudfoots, and Berry himself, were all involved in a sort of dance of fiction and reality, representation and verisimilitude, analogy and sympathy.
It was also a gift to be able to read this volume, of all books, under such ideal circumstances: a whole free, overcast Saturday where I could, for several hours, sit on the loveseat beside my husband, drinking repeated cups of coffee, enjoying his company (and occasional snuggle) as we both lost ourselves in our books.
Whatever the case, I relished this book and devoured it over the course of a single, tranquil Saturday. Maybe I loved it because I found the characters of Ptolemy Proudfoot and Miss Minnie Quinch more truly lovable than any previous Port William acquaintances; maybe it was the delightful snapshots (you couldn't quite call it a portrait) of a marriage; maybe it was the older time period of the collection, weighted more toward 1900 than 1950.
In fact, the comparative antiquity of the settings probably did play a considerable part in my appreciation: my two favorite stories were the first and last, the ones that take place in 1908 and 1916. I'm well aware that I like the first — which chronicles the very beginning of the Proudfoots' courtship — largely because it's so conventional, but it seems to me an almost flawlessly wrought tale, doing everything that a short story ought with perfect and succinct aplomb. The last and longest story, from which the collection takes its name, is both a meditation and a technical triumph.
The friend who recommended this volume and lent her copy both piqued my interest by and did me the honor of comparing my husband and myself to the main characters. This made the reading experience all the more delightful — as if we, and she, and the Proudfoots, and Berry himself, were all involved in a sort of dance of fiction and reality, representation and verisimilitude, analogy and sympathy.
It was also a gift to be able to read this volume, of all books, under such ideal circumstances: a whole free, overcast Saturday where I could, for several hours, sit on the loveseat beside my husband, drinking repeated cups of coffee, enjoying his company (and occasional snuggle) as we both lost ourselves in our books.
November 17, 2021
Summary: Six short stories and the title novella centered around the Port William resident, Tol Proudfoot and his wife, Miss Minnie and their life on a rural farm, part of the membership of a rural community.
This one had me at the title, both for its length, and the “yet-remembered” part. For Ptolemy “Tol” Proudfoot was a memorable man–a big man of 300 pounds who seemed to be a-bursting out of his clothes, which looked disheveled within minutes of him donning them. He carefully farmed 98 acres, just enough and not two acres more. He was a good judge of horses and all livestock, as well as a good judge of people. Miss Minnie Quinch Proudfoot was as diminutive as Tol was large, but just as impressive. This book of short stories and a novella trace their life together and the lives they touched from the time they began to court until a few years before death parted them.
The first story introduces both of them and tells how Miss Minnie, who had had eyes for him as he for her, consented to let Tol see her home after the Harvest Festival. “A Half-Pint of Old Darling” renders the amusing story of how Miss Minnie, a local temperance movement leader, got pie-eyed drunk on some Old Darling whiskey Tol had bought for his new calves. “The Lost Bet” recounts the time Tol had the last laugh with a store owner who belittled him. Tol was great with livestock and could drive a horse with aplomb, but struggled mightily with his new Model A. “Nearly to the Fair” recounts their attempt to be driven by Elton Penn to the state fair, never quite getting there.
Tol and Miss Minnie never had children and the hospitality they showed to a homeless father and son during the height of the Depression showed the unspoken heartache between them. As the father and son are leaving, Tol half-jokingly says to the man, “We could use a boy like that.” After they left “Tol put on a clean shirt and his jacket, and cap and gloves. Miss Minnie began to clear the table. For the rest of that day, they did not look at one another.” With an economy of words, Berry expresses the bond between them, the diligence of their daily lives, and the unspoken ache they both felt. The last of the short stories recalls a riotous incident from childhood when the family was gathered at Old Ant’ny Proudfoot’s and the boys managed to dump both a cat and a dog down the chimney resulting in all hell breaking loose with the company. Told a few years before his passing with tears of laughter running down his face, “It was Tol’s benediction, as I grew to know, on that expectancy of good and surprising things that had kept Lester’s eyes, and Tol’s too, wide open for so long.”
“Watch With Me,” the final novella is another incident, from 1916, of those “good and surprising things.” Thacker “Nightlife” Hample was prone to spells. Prevented from preaching at the revival at Goforth Church, he comes by Tol’s place, spies an old shotgun that had been loaded to kill a snake, takes it and walks deliberately away, mouthing threats to kill himself. Tol and his nephew Sam and several others follow as a distance, as Nightlife walks on, oblivious of them while they are far from oblivious to the danger of the shotgun. They follow a day and a night, losing him in the woods only to have him come to the fire where they had fallen asleep, uttering Jesus’ words “Couldn’t you stay awake? Couldn’t you stay awake?” He then leaves, taking them in a big circle back to Tol’s workshop. It’s a fine story of human fidelity and frailty–of friends who drop their work to watch their “teched” community member, not sure what they can do, but realizing they needed to be there, even at risk to themselves. That’s what it was to be a “member” of this community.
This is a wonderful collection I never knew existed, introducing me to an older member of Port William. The fine writing says just enough to suggest the things Berry wants us to see–the wonder of marital fidelity with all its flaws, the attentive care to land and crops, and animals, and people that makes for a healthy place, and the laughable incongruities of life. We witness the gentle respect people show for one another’s fallibilities, where people are protected from the worst versions of themselves, offering them space for redemption and growth. Berry makes us long for what was in this fictional town, and what could be in ours. He gently poses the question of us of what it may be to be the Tol, the Miss Minnie to others. We miss what Berry is saying if we only long for the world around us to be like these people and fail to hear the invitation to be like them ourselves.
This one had me at the title, both for its length, and the “yet-remembered” part. For Ptolemy “Tol” Proudfoot was a memorable man–a big man of 300 pounds who seemed to be a-bursting out of his clothes, which looked disheveled within minutes of him donning them. He carefully farmed 98 acres, just enough and not two acres more. He was a good judge of horses and all livestock, as well as a good judge of people. Miss Minnie Quinch Proudfoot was as diminutive as Tol was large, but just as impressive. This book of short stories and a novella trace their life together and the lives they touched from the time they began to court until a few years before death parted them.
The first story introduces both of them and tells how Miss Minnie, who had had eyes for him as he for her, consented to let Tol see her home after the Harvest Festival. “A Half-Pint of Old Darling” renders the amusing story of how Miss Minnie, a local temperance movement leader, got pie-eyed drunk on some Old Darling whiskey Tol had bought for his new calves. “The Lost Bet” recounts the time Tol had the last laugh with a store owner who belittled him. Tol was great with livestock and could drive a horse with aplomb, but struggled mightily with his new Model A. “Nearly to the Fair” recounts their attempt to be driven by Elton Penn to the state fair, never quite getting there.
Tol and Miss Minnie never had children and the hospitality they showed to a homeless father and son during the height of the Depression showed the unspoken heartache between them. As the father and son are leaving, Tol half-jokingly says to the man, “We could use a boy like that.” After they left “Tol put on a clean shirt and his jacket, and cap and gloves. Miss Minnie began to clear the table. For the rest of that day, they did not look at one another.” With an economy of words, Berry expresses the bond between them, the diligence of their daily lives, and the unspoken ache they both felt. The last of the short stories recalls a riotous incident from childhood when the family was gathered at Old Ant’ny Proudfoot’s and the boys managed to dump both a cat and a dog down the chimney resulting in all hell breaking loose with the company. Told a few years before his passing with tears of laughter running down his face, “It was Tol’s benediction, as I grew to know, on that expectancy of good and surprising things that had kept Lester’s eyes, and Tol’s too, wide open for so long.”
“Watch With Me,” the final novella is another incident, from 1916, of those “good and surprising things.” Thacker “Nightlife” Hample was prone to spells. Prevented from preaching at the revival at Goforth Church, he comes by Tol’s place, spies an old shotgun that had been loaded to kill a snake, takes it and walks deliberately away, mouthing threats to kill himself. Tol and his nephew Sam and several others follow as a distance, as Nightlife walks on, oblivious of them while they are far from oblivious to the danger of the shotgun. They follow a day and a night, losing him in the woods only to have him come to the fire where they had fallen asleep, uttering Jesus’ words “Couldn’t you stay awake? Couldn’t you stay awake?” He then leaves, taking them in a big circle back to Tol’s workshop. It’s a fine story of human fidelity and frailty–of friends who drop their work to watch their “teched” community member, not sure what they can do, but realizing they needed to be there, even at risk to themselves. That’s what it was to be a “member” of this community.
This is a wonderful collection I never knew existed, introducing me to an older member of Port William. The fine writing says just enough to suggest the things Berry wants us to see–the wonder of marital fidelity with all its flaws, the attentive care to land and crops, and animals, and people that makes for a healthy place, and the laughable incongruities of life. We witness the gentle respect people show for one another’s fallibilities, where people are protected from the worst versions of themselves, offering them space for redemption and growth. Berry makes us long for what was in this fictional town, and what could be in ours. He gently poses the question of us of what it may be to be the Tol, the Miss Minnie to others. We miss what Berry is saying if we only long for the world around us to be like these people and fail to hear the invitation to be like them ourselves.
March 7, 2025
An enjoyable read for sure! It was nice to slow down and read the sweet short stories in this book. The characters were pleasant. I can see someone being bored but it was actually really refreshing to have this book amongst my other readings.
June 3, 2021
I loved this book of short stories by Wendell Berry about Ptolemy Proudfoot and his wife, Miss Minnie Quinch. These are wonderful tales, slow and easy ones, about the area and families of Port William, Kentucky. I saw many names that I read about in the novel Jayber Crow.
August 6, 2024
I loved these short stories (listened to the audiobook) because they reminded me of my grandparents a bit: my grandpa's talkative disposition, his wife's coy sensibleness, the language of the dialogue. Berry had me chuckling more than once at his descriptions.
And then came the title novella which just blew me away. So slow, so gorgeous.
And then came the title novella which just blew me away. So slow, so gorgeous.
December 23, 2024
Any book with Beryly Coulter and I am sold 🥰
February 15, 2022
Wendell Berry. Not much more to say!
February 18, 2019
I requested this from the library after seeing it quoted in a different book I was reading. I loved the quote and figured I needed to read the original book. I am going to buy this for my collection. The stories in this book need to be read out loud and enjoyed together. I plan to read them aloud as a family. Wendell Berry is a master wordsmith and storyteller.
April 9, 2023
Earthy yet delicately wrought and deeply felt tales of agrarian life in simpler times. Berry's prose, like his poetry, is a wonder of simplicity, understanding and beauty. Spending time in his Port William is true comfort to the soul.
Read
July 4, 2025A lovely collection of stories that focus on otherwise peripheral characters in the Port William books. The story which the collection is named after is the highlight (some of Berry's best work), displaying the beauty and strength of the Membership.
December 9, 2022
Wendell Berry does not disappoint! His books are simple yet beautiful.
September 17, 2024
It's always good to return to Port William.
January 30, 2025
Beautiful prose, stirring description and endearing characters. Wendell is one of my favorites. I love the humanity of his characters and the love they have for each other and the land.
September 25, 2023
I loved hearing about Ptolemy Proudfoot and this family of the membership.
October 15, 2020
I finished this book over a week ago, and I'm still thinking about Ptolemy Proudfoot and his role in his community. In the words of Anne Shirley, I found 'Tol to be a kindred spirit, or at least that's what I would want.
I've not read much Wendell Berry yet, but when I do, I'm gently reminded to love the life I have and to accept as it is. The beauty comes after a tender acceptance of where I am and where others are.
I've not read much Wendell Berry yet, but when I do, I'm gently reminded to love the life I have and to accept as it is. The beauty comes after a tender acceptance of where I am and where others are.
September 27, 2019
Most of these stories are surprisingly light and amusing; they were written during the early decades of the twentieth century and show barely a hint of Berry's famous philosophy and moral stance. A couple stories--particularly the long, deep one that ends the collection--are more somber and thoughtful. This final story, written in 1916, has great weight and intensity of concern for humanity.
The earliest story in the collection was from 1908, and I suspect the writers of the musical Oklahoma stole an idea from it. I can also easily imagine the stories having an influence on Garrison Keillor when he wrote the News from Lake Wobegon.
Overall, the stories present an idealized view of hard-working, sober, even-tempered, prosperous farm people. But the stories also reveal the richness and strength of family and community--also somewhat idealized. They document a type of life that Berry knew well was disappearing.
The earliest story in the collection was from 1908, and I suspect the writers of the musical Oklahoma stole an idea from it. I can also easily imagine the stories having an influence on Garrison Keillor when he wrote the News from Lake Wobegon.
Overall, the stories present an idealized view of hard-working, sober, even-tempered, prosperous farm people. But the stories also reveal the richness and strength of family and community--also somewhat idealized. They document a type of life that Berry knew well was disappearing.
February 13, 2022
No one writes like Wendell Berry; no one. When you yearn for a simpler time, or want to peek in on how folk lived in the early 1900's, Berry's books are always there for the taking. He just has a love affair with the land and the importance of people's stewardship toward it that cannot be found anywhere else. Add that to the delightful people who ARE the meek who shall inherit the earth, and you have found a wonderful way to slip away on a Sunday afternoon. We are losing the people of this generation, as we are losing much of our rural lands and the art it took to tend one's home and property. With that loss, there is no turning back.
December 6, 2008
It's easy to knock this sort of "gentle humor," but the truth is that it had me laughing out loud more than once. Unlike other commenters, though, I felt that the last story about chasing Nightlife went on too long.
December 8, 2024
10-2010: I didn't write a review.
12-2024: I listened to the entire audiobook. This is a collection of short stories about Ptolemy Proudfoot and his wife, Miss Minnie. Some are humorous, some make you think, all are very good.
12-2024: I listened to the entire audiobook. This is a collection of short stories about Ptolemy Proudfoot and his wife, Miss Minnie. Some are humorous, some make you think, all are very good.
May 17, 2010
Can a book be comfort food? that's what comes to mind when I think of this one.
December 23, 2020
Reading Wendell Berry shakes me. His simple, descriptive tales barely conceal a wonderful intelligence that is anything but simple. His eye for detail is a rare gift. He changes me in ways I cannot say, but I am deepened and renewed by reading his work. It gives me a new view of my own life, my own experience and makes me feel like I have failed to see and value my own life as I should.
Sometimes I look on the beauty of the forest and the sky and the creatures of the wild untamed world and I feel a deep gratitude that I cannot express, as if I am not even capable of appreciating it all as much as it should be appreciated. It is an aching excitement that I can't get my arms around, my thoughts around, my heart around. . . It's the same feeling I have after reading Wendell Berry.
This collection is also great for reading outloud.
Sometimes I look on the beauty of the forest and the sky and the creatures of the wild untamed world and I feel a deep gratitude that I cannot express, as if I am not even capable of appreciating it all as much as it should be appreciated. It is an aching excitement that I can't get my arms around, my thoughts around, my heart around. . . It's the same feeling I have after reading Wendell Berry.
This collection is also great for reading outloud.
January 9, 2022
5 STARS
I love Wendell Berry and this is up there in my favorites of his short story collections. This book focuses on the life of Ptolemy Proudfoot in relationship with his wife, Miss Minnie, and the broader Port William community. Perhaps more so than other Berry collections, these stories are joyful and often lighthearted, though not without struggle. You'll get glimpses of a young Ptolemy falling nervously in love with Miss Minnie, of their early married days navigating a changing world (and hilariously trying to learn to drive), of their aging days reflecting on a life well-lived, and of their commitment to the community.
If you've never read Berry before, this would be a nice introduction since you can dip in and out of the collection. (I've also recommended JAYBER CROW and HANNAH COULTER before on my blog.)
I love Wendell Berry and this is up there in my favorites of his short story collections. This book focuses on the life of Ptolemy Proudfoot in relationship with his wife, Miss Minnie, and the broader Port William community. Perhaps more so than other Berry collections, these stories are joyful and often lighthearted, though not without struggle. You'll get glimpses of a young Ptolemy falling nervously in love with Miss Minnie, of their early married days navigating a changing world (and hilariously trying to learn to drive), of their aging days reflecting on a life well-lived, and of their commitment to the community.
If you've never read Berry before, this would be a nice introduction since you can dip in and out of the collection. (I've also recommended JAYBER CROW and HANNAH COULTER before on my blog.)
February 27, 2022
This is my first introduction to Ptolemy Proudfoot and Miss Minnie. The mutual love and respect they have for each other is palpable. I love them so much. When I learned that Elton Penn grew up close to the Proudfoots, a lot of his character made sense to me. I can see Tol’s influence on how Elton Pen manages his farm and life.
I love the way Berry illustrates spiritual truths in his fictional community. In the titular short story, Watch with Me, I couldn’t really understand why Tol and company would care that much about Nightlife. I thought the story was kind of dragging on, then Nightlife quotes his Bible verse about the Shepherd leaving the 99 to go after the 1. It actually took my breath away and gave me a better insight into the love of the Good Shepherd.
I love the way Berry illustrates spiritual truths in his fictional community. In the titular short story, Watch with Me, I couldn’t really understand why Tol and company would care that much about Nightlife. I thought the story was kind of dragging on, then Nightlife quotes his Bible verse about the Shepherd leaving the 99 to go after the 1. It actually took my breath away and gave me a better insight into the love of the Good Shepherd.
February 7, 2025
Somehow I always end up reading Wendell Berry at the start of the year. The first half of this book is comprised of 6 shorter stories about Tol and Minnie Proudfoot. I loved them and I think Tolkien would have approved of these characters. The first stories were probably my favorite W. B. I have read - they were so joyful, and even the harder parts of their life together were shared through a lens of gratefulness. The first half gets 5 stars.
The final story is longer and more like other W. B. books in tone, with layers of symbolism and scriptural allusion, but also more of Berry’s spiritual confusion. I liked it and thought it wrapped up well, but it lagged a little. I wanted a better ending for a book I started out loving so much.
The final story is longer and more like other W. B. books in tone, with layers of symbolism and scriptural allusion, but also more of Berry’s spiritual confusion. I liked it and thought it wrapped up well, but it lagged a little. I wanted a better ending for a book I started out loving so much.
September 1, 2023
Entertaining: 6/10
Transformational: 8/10
This would be 4.5 stars if I could do that. I truly enjoy Berry's fiction. It doesn't follow the NYT algorithm. It is grounded in place and the beauty of simpler times. It is slow, and poetically repetitive, without being repetitious, like Mister Rogers.
I've added many quotes from his books to my commonplace.
The opening story was my favorite.
I enjoyed the voice in Hannah Coulter more, but still really loved this one too. I like the comfort of these books. I romanticize agrarian life myself. In a world of darkness and dissipation, these books really shine.
Transformational: 8/10
This would be 4.5 stars if I could do that. I truly enjoy Berry's fiction. It doesn't follow the NYT algorithm. It is grounded in place and the beauty of simpler times. It is slow, and poetically repetitive, without being repetitious, like Mister Rogers.
I've added many quotes from his books to my commonplace.
The opening story was my favorite.
I enjoyed the voice in Hannah Coulter more, but still really loved this one too. I like the comfort of these books. I romanticize agrarian life myself. In a world of darkness and dissipation, these books really shine.
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