The Literary Legacy of Jimmy Carter

A huge thank you to the essayists who have curated Carter’s extraordinary body of work in this tribute to a literary life that began with his first campaign memoir, Why Not the Best?. Carter flourished in all forms, memoir, poetry, religion, aging, even an historical novel. It is an honor to add my voice to his long overdue recognition as a writer.

-- Eleanor Clift, commentator for MSNBC and The Daily Beast, former White House correspondent for Newsweek

Elegant and thoroughly researched, this collection of essays on President Jimmy Carter provides an intimate and inspiring look into the remarkable legacy of a statesman, humanitarian, poet, and writer. TheLiterary Legacy of Jimmy Carter is the sharing of mind and spirit that illumines, to paraphrase John Henry Cardinal Newman, the best that has been thought and said about our 39th President of the United States. A must-read book for every American.

-- Sue Brannan Walker, former Poet Laureate of Alabama, and founding editor of the award-winning journal, Negative Capability Press, which published Jimmy Carter’s poetry

Jimmy Carter is celebrated for his monumental impact on humanity, but his literary contributions reveal an equally profound legacy. With over thirty books spanning poetry, memoirs, and fiction, Carter’s writing offers an intimate glimpse into the extraordinary breadth of his mind and imagination. The Literary Legacy of Jimmy Carter presents a collection of essays that delve into this often-overlooked facet of his life, offering readers a captivating exploration of the literary dimension of a truly remarkable American figure.

-- Patti Callahan Henry, NYT Bestselling author, winner of the Harper Lee Award

Jimmy Carter is surely among our most well-read Presidents. Novelist William Faulkner and theologian Reinhold Niebuhr, for example, wrote from a depth of authentic engagement with issues of faith, culture, spirit, and politics that helped engender Carter’s own rare capacity reflected in these pages. Carter’s literary legacy deserves the honor herein. As a white Southern clergyman who came of age in the civil rights movement and has wrestled in that arena ever since, I give special thanks for this volume.

-- Doug Tanner, cofounder and former chief executive of the Faith and Politics Institute in Washington, DC

Instead of paid speeches, corporate boards and celebrity golf, Jimmy Carter made his living after leaving office writing books, each a reflection of a different part of his astonishing life as a Renaissance Man. These essays illuminate the 39th president's large and eclectic literary output and bolster the broad reassessment of Carter now underway.

-- Jonathan Alter, Author of "His Very Best: Jimmy Carter, a L