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Article: Thus spoke Jedediah: the distilled wisdom of a cornpone prophet.('For Common Things: Irony, Trust and Commitment in America Today')(Book Review)
- Article from:
- Harper's Magazine
- Article date:
- September 1, 1999
- Author:
CopyrightCOPYRIGHT 1999 Harper's Magazine Foundation. This material is published under license from the publisher through the Gale Group, Farmington Hills, Michigan. All inquiries regarding rights should be directed to the Gale Group. (Hide copyright information)
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For Common Things: Irony, Trust and Commitment in America Today, by Jedediah Purdy. Knopf. 256 pages. $20.
Jedediah Purdy was raised and homeschooled on a hardscrabble West Virginia farm by hippie parents who let their young run free and naked, slathered with mud and adorned with wildflowers. He learned by working alongside his parents and listening well when neighbors came to call. He explored the hollows and ridges of his native landscape, cut the hay he had planted, slaughtered the steers he had raised as pets. He dug ditches for a spring's cold fresh water and drilled boreholes in the living wood of sugar maples to get at the sweet clear sap. He watched his ...