Average Reviews:
(More customer reviews)Just looking at the cover of this book makes me wish it was summer, and I could find a homegrown, red, ripe, juicy tomato.
I'm a cold-weather gal, so wishing for summer is not something I do often. But there is something very earthy and very appealing about Stewart's memoir of his organic farming life. (The fact that it is illustrated with woodcuts done by Stewart's wife, Flavia Bacarella, doesn't hurt-I love woodcuts. And how about that name? Seems like I could be earthy and appealing, too, if my name were "Flavia.")
It's an interesting book, with each chapter/essay offering a short perspective on the challenges facing small farmers of all types, as well as different aspects of rural life and farm marketing in New York City's Union Square Greenmarket. On my mental "gardening/rural life books" continuum, I liked it better than William Alexander's horrible The $64 Tomato, in which the author told about trying to kill an opossum in the most bungling and painful way possible; but did not like it as much as Michael Ableman's On Good Land, which seemed to be a bit more personable, or humorous, or something. But in the end I still enjoyed this one very much. I particularly liked its opening:
"Twenty years ago, a little past the age of forty, I was living in a small apartment in New York City, working as a project manager for a consulting firm, wearing a jacket and tie to the office every day. It didn't feel good. I had never aspired to be a member of the corporate world, but somehow that's where I had ended up. I had little affection for the work I was doing and seldom experienced any feelings of pride or fulfillment. Rather, I felt like an impostor, obliged to feign interest and enthusiasm much of the time...Today I am a farmer, a grower of organic vegetables and herbs, and can honestly say that I am a happier man." (pps. 1-2.)
Kind of gives one hope, doesn't it?
Click Here to see more reviews about: It's a Long Road to a Tomato: Tales of an Organic Farmer Who Quit the Big City for the (Not So) Simple Life
0 comments:
Post a Comment