Songs of the Soil

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Johnson, Fenton

History

Franklin Classics

Review\n"I love Fenton Johnson’s sensibility. It’s a joy and a balm to see the world through his eyes―and to rediscover solitude as our deepest and most powerful source of creativity and spirituality, even for people who are coupled." 
― Susan Cain, author of Quiet and Quiet Power\n"In this lyrical yet finely argued book, Johnson sets out to show that being alone―so different from loneliness, its direct opposite, in fact―is absolutely essential to the creative life.… Meticulous, loving prose." 
― Kathryn Hughes, New York Times Book Review\n"A work of staggering tenderness, intelligence and beauty…a new vision of self, community and home. This achingly honest and gorgeously written book should come with a warning: It will change you." 
― Harriet Lerner, PhD, author of The Dance of Anger\n"[A] flexible and forgiving approach to the subject of solitude.… [A] thoughtful exploration." 
― Geoff Wisner, Wall Street Journal\n"A fluid pastiche of memoir, social critique, literary criticism, mystical insights, and philosophical reflections.… [P]oetic yet profoundly accessible." 
― Brian Bromberger, Bay Area Reporter\n"“In studies of the lives of beloved artists, and in beautiful meditations on his own life, Fenton Johnson encourages us to understand solitariness as consecration, a fecund, rich condition for the pursuit of beauty. Fenton Johnson’s writing is so companionable and wise that it enacts what it counsels… it converts sterile loneliness to creative solitude." 
― Garth Greenwell, author of What Belongs to You\n"Part memoir, part critical study of writers and artists, part queer manifesto, At the Center of All Beauty is about Fenton Johnson’s effort to live deliberately, which in his case means alone.… This is a beautifully written book.… Reading At the Center of All Beauty, I came to see that each of us, single or coupled, has access to an interior life, a center of beauty, if only, as Johnson forcefully argues, we are not afraid of silence, of listening, of solitude, and what it has to teach us." 
― Daniel Burr, Gay and Lesbian Review\n"In a tone that’s warm, philosophical but familiar (this could be a conversation over tea or bourbon), Johnson touches on topics as varied as traveling alone, world religions, his parents and the Trappist monks next door, the monastic life, time as an illusion, the practice of celibacy, the gift of silence. It is a book for our times." 
― Christine Wald-Hopkins, Arizona Daily Star\n"A case Johnson makes through his quiet, heart-full prose is that solitude is a wellspring for creativity that we would do well to pay more attention to. It is a message I didn’t know how desperate I was to hear so magnificently articulated until I read it." 
― Chris La Tray, Rumpus\n"In these times of enforced solitude, what better book to shelter in place with than this one, which squarely places you At the Center of All Beauty." 
― Camille Cusumano, Medium\n“A treasure that I didn’t know I was looking for.” ―Rabih Alameddine, author of The Angel of History 
Fenton Johnson’s lyrical prose and searching sensibility explore what it means to choose solitude and to celebrate the notion that solitude is a legitimate and dignified calling. He delves into the lives and works of nearly a dozen iconic solitaries he considers his kindred spirits, from Thoreau at Walden Pond and Emily Dickenson in Amherst, to the fiercely self-protective Zora Neale Hurston. The bright wakes these figures have left behind illuminate Fenton Johnson’s journey from his childhood in rural Kentucky to his solitary travels in America, France, and India. Woven into his musings about better-known solitaries are stories of friends and family he has lost and found along the way.”

At the Center of All Beauty: Solitude and the Creative Life

Self-Help

Relationships

W.W.Norton&Company

A profound meditation on accepting, and celebrating, one’s solitude.
Whether seeking more time for solitude or suffering what seems a surfeit of it, readers will find the best of companions here. Fenton Johnson’s lyrical prose and searching sensibility explores what it means to choose to be solitary and celebrates the notion, common in his Roman Catholic childhood, that solitude is a legitimate and dignified calling. He delves into the lives and works of nearly a dozen iconic “solitaries” he considers his kindred spirits, from Thoreau at Walden Pond and Emily Dickinson in Amherst, to Bill Cunningham photographing the streets of New York; from Cézanne (married, but solitary nonetheless) painting Mont Sainte-Victoire over and over again, to the fiercely self-protective Zora Neale Hurston. Each character portrait is full of intense detail, the bright wakes they’ve left behind illuminating Fenton Johnson’s own journey from his childhood in the backwoods of Kentucky to his travels alone throughout the world and the people he has lost and found along the way.
Combining memoir, social criticism, and devoted research, At the Center of All Beauty will resonate with solitaries and with anyone who might wish to carve out more space for solitude.

Health, Fitness & Dieting

Mental Health

This is a reproduction of a book published before 1923. This book may have occasional imperfections such as missing or blurred pages, poor pictures, errant marks, etc. that were either part of the original artifact, or were introduced by the scanning process. We believe this work is culturally important, and despite the imperfections, have elected to bring it back into print as part of our continuing commitment to the preservation of printed works worldwide. We appreciate your understanding of the imperfections in the preservation process, and hope you enjoy this valuable book.

Literature & Fiction

Poetry

Ams Pr Inc

Martha Braff Pickett, the unconventional daughter of conservative Baptists, crosses the river to the Catholic side of town, where she meets her future husband

Crossing the River

Laurel

The author of the award-winning Crossing the River recounts his spiritual journey from the abbey of Gethsemani to the San Francisco Zen Center, during which he explored world religions and considered his role as a faithful skeptic.

Keeping Faith: A Skeptic's Journey

Biographies & Memoirs

Leaders & Notable People

Houghton/Mifflin

In his resonant account of a spiritual quest, Fenton Johnson examines what it means for a skeptic to have and to keep faith. Exploring Western and Eastern monastic traditions, Johnson lives as a member of the community at the Trappist Abbey of Gethsemani in Kentucky and at the branches of the San Francisco Zen Center. Ultimately his encounter with Buddhism brings him to a new understanding and embrace of Christianity. Weaving together meditations on Johnson's spiritual journey with history and insights from modern monks, Keeping Faith offers a blueprint for a new way of practicing faith.

HarperOne

From the author of the award-winning novels Crossing The River and Scissors, Paper, Rock comes a powerful book about the transformative power of love. Fenton Johnson recounts the history of "how I feel in love how I came to be with someone else, how he came to death and how I helped." Johnson interweaves two stories: his own upbringing as the youngest of a Kentucky whiskey maker's nine children, and that of his lover LarD Rose, the only child of German Jews. survivors of the Holocaust.

Geography Of The Heart

Scribner

Raphael Hardin, a young gay man, returns home to visit his dying father--who disapproves of his son's lifestyle but is unaware that his son may be dying as well--in an attempt to reconcile their relationship before it is too late

Scissors, Paper, Rock: A Novel

Pocket_Books

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Books by Johnson, Fenton

See the best price to sell, buy, or rent books by Johnson, Fenton. BookScouter helps to compare book prices from 25+ online bookstores and 30+ buyback vendors with a single search.

Songs of the Soil

Songs of the Soil

At the Center of All Beauty: Solitude and the Creative Life

At the Center of All Beauty: Solitude and the Creative Life

Songs of the Soil

Crossing the River

Keeping Faith: A Skeptic's Journey

Keeping Faith: A Skeptic's Journey

Geography Of The Heart

Scissors, Paper, Rock: A Novel