Andy Catlett: Early Travels

A young boy takes a trip on his own to visit his grandparents in Kentucky in this luminous entry in the acclaimed Port William series. In this “eloquent distillation of Berry’s favorite themes: the importance of family, community and respect for the land” ( Kirkus Reviews ), nine-year-old Andy Catlett embarks on a solo trip by bus to visit his grandparents in Port William, Kentucky, during the Christmas of 1943. Full of “nostalgic, admiring detail” ( Publishers Weekly ), Andy observes the modern world crowding out the old ways, and the people he encounters become touchstones for his understanding of a precious and imperiled world. This beautiful, short memoir-like novel is a perfect introduction to Wendell Berry’s rich and ever-evolving saga of the Port William Membership, filled with images “as though describing a painting by Edward Hopper” ( New York Times ).