NONFICTION

More Scenes from the Rural Life

by Verlyn Klinkenborg
Princeton Architectural. 2013. 240p. ISBN 9781616891565. $24.95. AGRI
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New York Times columnist Klinkenborg's latest book certainly plays into the current popular focus on slow food, agriculture, agrarian nostalgia, and (to a certain extent) conspicuous nonconsumption. In this sequel to The Rural Life, which drew from his Times columns on similar subjects, Klinkenborg details his experiences over ten years on his upstate New York farm as he milks cows and ponders foxes, tomato vines, changing seasons, the city vs. the country, and the cycles of life from birth to death and seed to rot. Midway through, Klinkenborg includes an informative and enlightening analysis of the cattle industry and how much of the United States' agriculture is dependent on beef and vice versa.
VERDICT The tone of this book has far more gravitas than Kristin Kimball's memoir The Dirty Life, and even Michael Pollan fans might find it a bit verbose. Still, it's a solid addition to the farm lit genre. Slow food here makes for a slow but pleasant read.
Reviewed by Stacie Williams, Lexington P.L., KY , Aug 16, 2013
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