Overview

The memoir of Ruth Weinstein, descendant of original settlers of the Alliance Colony in Pittsgrove Township, Salem County, New Jersey, the first successful Jewish farming community in America, telling the story of her forbears, her time in Alliance and Norma as a child and teenager, and her life as a long-time member of the back-to-the-land movement in the Ozarks of Arkansas.

Full Product Details

9781947889989

Table of Contents

Reviews

Counterculture postmortems are a dime a dozen--and usually they lack any kind of coherence, emotion beyond nostalgia, and connection to greater themes in American life. Ruth Weinstein's Back to the Land is none of these things. It's a marvelously balanced memoir and community history that spans generations, highlighting how the back to the land ethos of the 1960s was not new and was, in fact, crucial to how various communities made their way in American life. Whether you're interested in the 1960s, Jewish history, or just plain engaging storytelling, Weinstein's work is must read for scholars and lay readers alike. Jared Phillips, author of Hipbillies: Deep Revolution in the Arkansas Ozarks. Part history. Part memory. Pure poetry. In her memoir Back to the Land: Alliance Colony to the Ozarks in Four Generations, Ruth Weinstein provides a comprehensive history of the Alliance Colony in Salem County, New Jersey, exploring her family's close connection to that community and delving into cherished childhood memories of the people and place. Her account of the Colony's history helps readers connect the dots to all the lives of her family members. She paints a picture, in broad strokes, of a strong family bond through four generations, and through her poetry, she finds the place where she fits in her family tree. This memoir is about history, family, and one woman's journey of becoming one with the land. Sheri Bancroft, dancer, choreographer, and Tennessee Arts Commission Literary Fellowship recipient.

Counterculture postmortems are a dime a dozen--and usually they lack any kind of coherence, emotion beyond nostalgia, and connection to greater themes in American life. Ruth Weinstein's Back to the Land is none of these things. It's a marvelously balanced memoir and community history that spans generations, highlighting how the back to the land ethos of the 1960s was not new and was, in fact, crucial to how various communities made their way in American life. Whether you're interested in the 1960s, Jewish history, or just plain engaging storytelling, Weinstein's work is must read for scholars and lay readers alike. Jared Phillips, author of Hipbillies: Deep Revolution in the Arkansas Ozarks. Part history. Part memory. Pure poetry. In her memoir Back to the Land: Alliance Colony to the Ozarks in Four Generations, Ruth Weinstein provides a comprehensive history of the Alliance Colony in Salem County, New Jersey, exploring her family's close connection to that community and delving into cherished childhood memories of the people and place. Her account of the Colony's history helps readers connect the dots to all the lives of her family members. She paints a picture, in broad strokes, of a strong family bond through four generations, and through her poetry, she finds the place where she fits in her family tree. This memoir is about history, family, and one woman's journey of becoming one with the land. Sheri Bancroft, dancer, choreographer, and Tennessee Arts Commission Literary Fellowship recipient.

Author Information

In a long ago former life, Ruth Weinstein taught high school English in Philadelphia, English as a Foreign Language in Japan, and English as a Second Language in Arkansas. For nearly forty-five years, however, she has focused on organic gardening; writing poetry, essays and memoir; and making both functional and art pieces in a variety of textile media. She has won awards for poems about how gardening and food affect personal and community relationships. She and her husband live on their forty-acre wooded homestead in the Arkansas Ozarks.

Tab Content 6

Customer Reviews

Recent Reviews

Countries Available