The first three novels of the World Made by Hand series, by noted author and social and environmental critic James Howard Kunstler, presented a United States in which terrorism, disease and environmental destruction have reduced society to a hardscrabble subsistence. In the fourth and final volume, the citizens of Union Grove have succeeded in making this hand-to-mouth lifestyle work, but they find their hard-won efforts threatened by a cunning group of dissident hyper-liberals.
Union Grove is forced to defend an already fragile infrastructure. Dwindling winter supplies have left fresh food scarce, but plantation owner Stephen Bullock refuses to lend his riverboat so the people can transport goods from Albany. Meanwhile, the anti-establishment crowd called the Berkshire People's Republic, led by former NPR correspondent Glen Ethan Greengrass, arrives in town. They attempt to extort silver from residents in exchange for membership in and protection from the Republic. Meanwhile, mayor Robert Earle's son Daniel has returned from a mysterious two-year sojourn to start a town newspaper. Then tragedy strikes the denizens of Union Grove.
The rhythms of the novel are slow and undulating, mirroring the rebuilding of town and civilization, and Kunstler's ornate tone gives way to gentle, yet critical, observations of post-industrial society. A world deprived of modern comforts may be bleak to some, but Kunstler retains a strong belief in the human spirit's ability to form community out of hope, which gives this dystopic series a moving and satisfying end. --Nancy Powell, freelance writer and technical consultant