Writing from the Center

In his latest collection of carefully crafted essays, Sanders, an author (Staying Put) and a professor of English at Indiana State Univ., reflects on the sense of belonging he has found while raising his family in the Midwest, and on his career as a writer. He eloquently expresses his love of the land and the responsibility he feels for preventing further erosion of our natural resources, including a description of a canoe trip he took with his daughter into northern Minnesota. The simple joys of domestic life unfold in an account of a morning spent baking bread, and he also explains how a dreaded kitchen renovation provided him and his wife with unexpected pleasure. In one informative essay, Sanders ties his feelings for the Midwest to what other writers such as Willa Cather and Sinclair Lewis have written about the area. He views writing as his chosen work, one that must be attended to daily and in solitude, and values it only insofar as it articulates his vision of community. (Oct.)