Synopses & Reviews
In a new paperback edition,
Walking on Water is a startling and provocative look at teaching, writing, creativity, and life by a writer increasingly recognized for his passionate and articulate critique of modern civilization. Derrick Jensen brings us into his classroom whether college or maximum security prison where he teaches writing. He reveals how schools perpetuate the great illusion that happiness lies outside of ourselves and that learning to please and submit to those in power makes us into lifelong clock-watchers. As a writing teacher Jensen guides his students out of the confines of traditional education to find their own voices, freedom, and creativity.
This is a hard-hitting and sometimes scathing critique of our current educational system that not only gives a hands-on method for learning how to write, but also a lesson on how to connect to the core of our creative selves.
Review
"Jensen's strength lies in his honest, provocative, passionate approach....Jensen's first, second, third and fourth rules of writing are 'Don't bore the reader.' In that effort, he succeeds masterfully." Publishers Weekly
Review
"The author, who seems like a friend by the end of the book, presents his ideas in a humorous, radical, and upfront approach...[T]his book is a true treasure for teens....It is highly recommended for...budding writers." VOYA
Review
"I would urge all teachers' colleges and schools of education to get rid of their textbooks and required courses and instead give everyone preparing to be a teacher a copy of Derrick Jensen's Walking on Water. It is a superb commentary on learning, for both teachers and students practical and visionary at the same time." Howard Zinn, author of
A People's History of the United States
Review
"The lessons here are truly revolutionary....Thank you, Derrick Jensen, for giving us a roadway to get started." Adam Fletcher, director of The Freechild Project
About the Author
Derrick Jensen is a prize-winning author and was one of two finalists for the 2003 J. Anthony Lukas Book Prize, which cited The Culture of Make Believe as "a passionate and provocative meditation on the nexus of racism, genocide, environmental destruction, and corporate malfeasance, where civilization meets its discontents." He lives on the coast of northern California.