This book is a slow, easy story about the life of boy growing up in rural Kentucky. He travels around a bit as a young man and learns the barber trade. Finally, he ends up in Port William, Kentucky close to his boyhood home. From the door of the his barbershop with an apartment above, he watches the goings-on in the small town and becomes friends with his customers. He tells about his life and those of his neighbors in a straight forward manner with quite a bit of philosophy thrown in. Some of the stories are funny and some heartbreaking. The saddest story is how progress and growth changes the sleepy, easy going nature of the town. I enjoyed reading about times back in the thirties and forties and about some of the great characters that Jayber comes to know. There is a love story that is a bit weird but overall I liked the book.
Rating: 4
I really liked this book and its gentle mood. I used to live right in the area he describes in the book and only half an hour or so where Wendell Berry himself lives. I also like his poetry and essays.
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