Book Reviews

Last week I finally read the two books that have been On My Nightstand for months: Animal, Vegetable, Miracle by Barbara Kingsolver and The Last American Man by Elizabeth Gilbert. I'm debating moving Animal, Vegetable, Miracle into the Life Changers category because it makes me want so badly to change my life, but it will be baby steps. At least it is baby steps in the right direction :-).

Animal, Vegetable, Miracle chronicles a year in the food life of Barbara Kingsolver's family as they endeavor to eat locally, and, in fact, mostly off of their own land and labor. This is not an undertaking that the Hopp-Kingsolvers took lightly or began on a whim. They planned for a year before beginning and then spent the year continually planning, as well. To eat tomatoes in January means canning tomatoes in August, and lots of them! To eat Tom Turkey for Thanksgiving dinner requires raising chicks in the spring. Kingsolver organizes the book according to the calendar, following their journey through the seasons. They begin by harvesting asparagus and that's how they end their quest, as well. There are portions written by Kingsolver's husband and by her eldest daughter. In addition to describing their personal experiences, Kingsolver educates readers on the history of food in the world and, particularly, how food in America got so screwed up. My favorite thing about this book is that Kingsolver makes it all seem so do-able. At times, she waxes romantic, but she always comes back to the mud-and-blood-stained reality of really feeding her family. I love, love, love this book. I must say, too, that Barbara Kingsolver is, without a doubt, my very most favorite contemporary author and has been since I was 16 or 17 when I was assigned The Bean Trees to read for a high school English class. Thank you, Mrs. Gronberg! Kingsolver has a new novel coming out in November. Woo hoo! If you want to take a peek, or just snag some recipes, check out www.animalvegetablemiracle.com.

And now on to The Last American Man by Elizabeth Gilbert. I really enjoyed this portrait of Eustace Conway. He is a fascinating man trying desperately to wake up Americans to the reality of, well, reality. If you ever feel like a cog in the machine, you will relate to Eustace's message. Eustace would like for us to live REAL lives in harmony with nature. He would like for us to understand the satisfaction of being self-sufficient. And he would like to have a house with huge walk-in closets. Yeah, I know. This guy is full of contradictions, but you just can't help but want to meet him. He lives out in nature on a plot of land he named Turtle Island in the middle of what must be an Appalachian paradise. He walks the walk, people. He is a wounded man, though, and struggles within the confines of close personal relationships, although he longs for closeness probably more than any other thing. I have to say that I do not entirely enjoy Gilbert's writing style. That's not to say that she is a bad writer. In fact, she was very successful with what had to be the most difficult aspect of writing about someone as "larger than life" as Eustace Conway - especially considering that they are friends - she managed to avoid turning Eustace into a caricature. She seems to show all sides of Eustace: the good, the bad, and even the ugly. I would definitely read other books by Gilbert, I am especially interested in Eat Pray Love, before deciding that she's not my kind of writer. I will add, too, that she seems like a chick that you could go have a beer with - that is, there is an earthy sort of real-ness about her that comes through in her writing. I just can't put my finger on what exactly put me off a little in her writing for The Last American Man. You can learn more about Gilbert at www.elizabethgilbert.com.

I just started today on Where Men Win Glory: The Odyssey of Pat Tillman by Jon Krakauer. My brother, who just finished reading it this morning, promises it will be an interesting and educational read, so I'll let you know.