Far from being the bucolic paradise that is often imagined the rural areas of this country are afflicted with chronic economic hardship severe forms of alienation and the lack of a foundation for community development or for the enhancement of economic social and educational opportunities for rural people In this study Kenneth P Wilkinson examines the critical state of rural life in America its causes and possible cure Following a critical review of research and theories on the subject he proposes a new theoretical perspective that focuses on community interaction as a necessary basis for social wellbeingWilkinson first looks at what rural sociologists have had to say about the meaning and consequences of community as a form of social organization He next analyzes the profound problems of community organization that affect rural locations especially the deficits that block the formation of the infrastructure networks and facilities that are necessary to community development Focusing