The World Will Follow Joy: Turning Madness into Flowers

By Alice Walker

Categories: Literature & Fiction

Alice Walker's 2013 book of new poems responds to a world she sees as full of war, injustice and political cruelty, while insisting on the power of joy. Writing about Gaza, the Occupy movement, the Arab Spring, aging, friendship and the natural world, she argues that resistance and happiness belong together. The poems are direct and conversational, and the title piece urges readers to turn their anger and grief into something that can grow.

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• Hillary Clinton: “I will read anything by Laura Hillenbrand, Walter Isaacson, Barbara Kingsolver, John le Carré, John Grisham, Hilary Mantel, Toni Morrison, Anna Quindlen and Alice Walker.”