Jayber Crow

"e;This is a book about Heaven,"e; says Jayber Crow, "e;but I must say too that . . . I have wondered sometimes if it would not finally turn out to be a book about Hell."e; It is 1932 and he has returned to his native Port William to become the town's barber.Orphaned at age ten, Jayber Crow's acquaintance with loneliness and want have made him a patient observer of the human animal, in both its goodness and frailty.He began his search as a "e;pre-ministerial student"e; at Pigeonville College. There, freedom met with new burdens and a young man needed more than a mirror to find himself. But the beginning of that finding was a short conversation with "e;Old Grit,"e; his profound professor of New Testament Greek. "e;You have been given questions to which you cannot be given answers. You will have to live them out-perhaps a little at a time."e; "e;And how long is that going to take?"e; "e;I don't know. As long as you live, perhaps."e; "e;That could be a long time."e; "e;I will tell you a further mystery,"e; he said. "e;It may take longer."e;Wendell Berry's clear-sighted depiction of humanity's gifts-love and loss, joy and despair-is seen though his intimate knowledge of the Port William Membership.