Visits with the Amish

I read this book on a cold winter Sunday and was warmed by its descriptive portrayal of Amish life. Egenes has a strong way with words that transports, entertains, and informs sharing her personal accounts of treasured visits to Amish families in Iowa and North Carolina.

This book, Visits with the Amish, Impressions of the Plain Life by Linda Egenes, with Woodcuts by Mary Azarian astounds in a gentle way: the background matter, and the narratives, are full of love both because of the subject matter (the people the book is about) and the gentle flow of consciousness of the author creating the book (which we read). And the woodcut illustrations are worth the price of the book, too.

I've long been fascinated with Utopian communities and anthropology, partly because I've always wondered if there were better ways of living than what we have now -- isolated families watching too much TV, endless consumption, working 50 weeks a year, no time to volunteer or spend much time with neighbors, no time to cook meals from scratch so our food is chemical, fattening, and non-nutritious. Seems like our way of life could be improved on.