Two years ago, renowned social commentator and novelist James Howard Kunstler, author of the bestselling The Long Emergency, imagined a post-oil future in World Made by Hand, which the San Francisco Chronicle called “far from a typical postapocalyptic novel . . .an impassioned and invigorating tale whose ultimate message is one of hope, not despair.”  Kunstler’s THE WITCH OF HEBRON  once again takes readers to Union Grove, New York and expands on his vision of an America without oil.       In the not-distant future, the citizens of Union Grove, New York, have little knowledge of the world outside their town. The electricity has flickered out. The Internet is a distant memory. There may be a president, and he may be in Minneapolis, but it’s little more than a rumor.  Travel is horse-drawn, medicine is herbal, and farming is back at the center of life. But it’s no pastoral haven. Wars are fought over dwindling resources and illness is a constant presence. Bandits roam the countryside, preying on the weak. And a sinister cult, led by a man of other-than-worldly abilities, threatens to shatter Union Grove’s fragile stability.  At the center of the novel is eleven-year-old Jasper Copeland, the son of Union Grove’s doctor, who runs away from home after committing a chilling act of revenge; Brother Jobe, the gregarious, ruthless leader of the New Faith Brotherhood, who is intent on hunting down Jasper; Robert Earle, a marketing executive turned carpenter and the de facto leader of Union Grove’s brave new world; and Barbara Maglie, the beautiful, charismatic healer of the wild back country.   With THE WITCH OF HEBRON, James Howard Kunstler once again seamlessly weaves hot-button issues such as the decline of oil and the perils of climate change into a compelling narrative of violence, religious hysteria, innocence lost, and love found.  As Paul Greenberg wrote of World Made by Hand in the New York Times Book Review, “The verisimilitude of Kunstler’s world leads me to think the future is Union Grove." Visit Kunstler's website to learn more about the man and the vision behind World Made by Hand.