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orangejenny's review against another edition
2.0
What this is not:
An ethnography. You don't get to know much about a sizable portion of the crew, probably because they don't seem to be willing participants in the project. The relationship that makes the book possible is that the head of the crew has cut crops on the author's family's farm for many years. He invites the author along, and she seems to have an amiable relationship with him and his family. The rest of the crew, however, presumably did not sign up to have the author tag along, not helping with the work but just observing them and questioning them, with the end goal of writing a book. She sounds less interested in learning about their lives than in getting them to respond to her preconceived questions about religion. She observes that crew members who are college-educated are more open to her than those who are not, but she isn't able to cross this line, possibly because she sounds rather pretentious. She emphasizes her family's love of rationality, and she waxes rhapsodic about batting around ideas in conversation with her family and with Juston, a crew member in college who discusses religion in depth with her. When the crew crosses into Nebraska, where her farm is, she hopes that going to her farm will soothe the tension she's felt, speaking as though the crew is a family on the outs. They are not a family. They are working for her (among other clients). She may have a genuinely affectionate relationship with Eric and his family, but that neither extends to the rest of the crew nor erases the business relationship.
A nonfiction book about farming or food politics. There *is* some information about farm equipment, cutting practices, and the like. Regarding food politics, the author is highly interested in farmers' perspectives on organic farming, but she funnels this through a contrived question about religion and GMOs. It's halfway through the book before she mentions any aspect of the organic labor other than GMOs, and she doesn't engage with environmental critiques of conventional farming, economic critiques of organic farming, or political critiques of the organic label. She describes feeding her son organic food due to a fuzzy sense that it's more pure than conventional, and she doubts this feeling after a farmer calls organic food just a marketing tactic, but she never does a real evaluation. At one point she describes farming as an old-fashioned hobby and ascribes this view to city people. That is not the view of the average city person, it's the view of a person whose family owns a hobby farm.
A theological exploration. This area seems quite personally important to the author, and it's where she most often references outside sources, but the main themes she returns to are 1) how literally to interpret the Bible and 2) emphasis on the vengeful Old Testament God versus the loving New Testament God. I'm not an expert here, but I think both of those are pretty well explored in scholarship.
A "bridge the political divide with empathy" book. Politics isn't often explicitly discussed, and the author seems invested in a polarized framework. She sees one major divide, a divide between city/country that is also a divide between atheist/Christian, intellectual/uneducated, and organic/conventional diets. She does not do a great job of recognizing nuance, in-between states, or common ground.
A discussion of traveling as a person of color in white America. Well, it is this, but it's limited. One of the thoughts that will stick with me is the author seeking out manicures in the larger cities she passes through, for the sake of visiting with the Vietnamese workers. In a few moments, it reminded me of [b:Days of Distraction|52973514|Days of Distraction|Alexandra Chang|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1561993078l/52973514._SX50_SY75_.jpg|68989445], a very different book but also involving an Asian-American woman traveling among whites. However, at one point the author is invited to a Native religious ceremony by two Native women working at a hotel she's staying at. She interprets this as a gesture of kindness from one person of color to another, but she also knows they may be assuming she has Native heritage, which she does not. At the ceremony, she makes a faux pas and leaves in a hurry. Reading more later, she concludes that she was wrong to attend and that it's wrong to write about it, but writing about it, in detail, is exactly what she does. This doesn't negate her own experiences, but it does make me skeptical of her skill at turning her experiences into a broader cultural critique.
A meditation on the natural beauty of the American West. There are a lot of landscape descriptions, many with overwrought language. In combination with the rest of the book, this began to feel like part of the author's tendency to polarize the city and the country. It didn't help that several times she says something about a sunset or landscape to the crew and is disappointed that they don't mirror her enthusiasm, which seems to be another way she looks down on them as not intellectual enough. It also doesn't help that she describes herself as starved for paintings, as though her time in the country is full of natural beauty while the city is where human artistry resides.
What this is:
Subtracting all of the above, what's left is mostly the author's family history, which is somewhat interesting, but probably not worth wading through all the rest.
An ethnography. You don't get to know much about a sizable portion of the crew, probably because they don't seem to be willing participants in the project. The relationship that makes the book possible is that the head of the crew has cut crops on the author's family's farm for many years. He invites the author along, and she seems to have an amiable relationship with him and his family. The rest of the crew, however, presumably did not sign up to have the author tag along, not helping with the work but just observing them and questioning them, with the end goal of writing a book. She sounds less interested in learning about their lives than in getting them to respond to her preconceived questions about religion. She observes that crew members who are college-educated are more open to her than those who are not, but she isn't able to cross this line, possibly because she sounds rather pretentious. She emphasizes her family's love of rationality, and she waxes rhapsodic about batting around ideas in conversation with her family and with Juston, a crew member in college who discusses religion in depth with her. When the crew crosses into Nebraska, where her farm is, she hopes that going to her farm will soothe the tension she's felt, speaking as though the crew is a family on the outs. They are not a family. They are working for her (among other clients). She may have a genuinely affectionate relationship with Eric and his family, but that neither extends to the rest of the crew nor erases the business relationship.
A nonfiction book about farming or food politics. There *is* some information about farm equipment, cutting practices, and the like. Regarding food politics, the author is highly interested in farmers' perspectives on organic farming, but she funnels this through a contrived question about religion and GMOs. It's halfway through the book before she mentions any aspect of the organic labor other than GMOs, and she doesn't engage with environmental critiques of conventional farming, economic critiques of organic farming, or political critiques of the organic label. She describes feeding her son organic food due to a fuzzy sense that it's more pure than conventional, and she doubts this feeling after a farmer calls organic food just a marketing tactic, but she never does a real evaluation. At one point she describes farming as an old-fashioned hobby and ascribes this view to city people. That is not the view of the average city person, it's the view of a person whose family owns a hobby farm.
A theological exploration. This area seems quite personally important to the author, and it's where she most often references outside sources, but the main themes she returns to are 1) how literally to interpret the Bible and 2) emphasis on the vengeful Old Testament God versus the loving New Testament God. I'm not an expert here, but I think both of those are pretty well explored in scholarship.
A "bridge the political divide with empathy" book. Politics isn't often explicitly discussed, and the author seems invested in a polarized framework. She sees one major divide, a divide between city/country that is also a divide between atheist/Christian, intellectual/uneducated, and organic/conventional diets. She does not do a great job of recognizing nuance, in-between states, or common ground.
A discussion of traveling as a person of color in white America. Well, it is this, but it's limited. One of the thoughts that will stick with me is the author seeking out manicures in the larger cities she passes through, for the sake of visiting with the Vietnamese workers. In a few moments, it reminded me of [b:Days of Distraction|52973514|Days of Distraction|Alexandra Chang|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1561993078l/52973514._SX50_SY75_.jpg|68989445], a very different book but also involving an Asian-American woman traveling among whites. However, at one point the author is invited to a Native religious ceremony by two Native women working at a hotel she's staying at. She interprets this as a gesture of kindness from one person of color to another, but she also knows they may be assuming she has Native heritage, which she does not. At the ceremony, she makes a faux pas and leaves in a hurry. Reading more later, she concludes that she was wrong to attend and that it's wrong to write about it, but writing about it, in detail, is exactly what she does. This doesn't negate her own experiences, but it does make me skeptical of her skill at turning her experiences into a broader cultural critique.
A meditation on the natural beauty of the American West. There are a lot of landscape descriptions, many with overwrought language. In combination with the rest of the book, this began to feel like part of the author's tendency to polarize the city and the country. It didn't help that several times she says something about a sunset or landscape to the crew and is disappointed that they don't mirror her enthusiasm, which seems to be another way she looks down on them as not intellectual enough. It also doesn't help that she describes herself as starved for paintings, as though her time in the country is full of natural beauty while the city is where human artistry resides.
What this is:
Subtracting all of the above, what's left is mostly the author's family history, which is somewhat interesting, but probably not worth wading through all the rest.
elanorh's review against another edition
5.0
This is a wonderful, thoughtful examination of identity, values, history, culture, belonging, religion ... a journey in more than one way, as Mockett explores her connection to the land and to those who, like her, love that land - yet have different worldviews. Well-written, well-edited, a really beautifully crafted reflection. It's been hard for me to read during this pandemic summer, but this book was a pleasure. As someone married into a family which relates to the land much as Mockett's family does (virtually identical in connection), and as someone whose own family is long-established in the Rocky Mountain West, but who has lived in several cities -- I found much to connect with in this book.
HIGHLY recommend for anyone wondering how we all connect, despite our differences.
HIGHLY recommend for anyone wondering how we all connect, despite our differences.
readrunsea's review against another edition
5.0
Ok, as someone with an ag background, I have a special chamber in my heart for ag narratives. This one is *expansive* but not in the ways I was expecting. It's more of a sociological study than a scientific one, but that is just as fascinating, because where society and farming interact is also totally my jam. Mockett does a lot of reflection on the different narratives around farming and food, and the culture of a very specific group of custom wheat harvesters, who are evangelical Christians from Pennsylvania (?!) I was not aware this was a thing. Religion, the nature of work, ideas of ownership and superiority, and the "American divide" are all explored in-depth. At times I felt the author, in her all-out attempt to truly understand this harvest crew, was too forgiving of their whiteness and the attendant language and behaviors that go with it. But overall I found this book so interesting, and though it is very long and detailed, I think this works in its favor. Bonus points for some truly gorgeous lyrical descriptions of farm landscapes.
mholtzy's review against another edition
This has been a good book to chew on. It has me reflecting on where, how, and with whom we seek comfort, where our food comes from, and the importance of seeking and hearing stories from different regions and backgrounds. I recommend.
muldoons3's review against another edition
5.0
Highly recommended.
On the surface you might think this is an unbiased attempt at an ethnography of a wheat harvesting crew or anthropological study of heartland Americans. But this book is SO much more intimate than I expected it to be, and it is moving.
The gears that turn these pages consist of memoir, American history, and the science of farming. But the grease for those gears are the palpable tensions of race, spirituality, identity and various degrees of hospitality shown by the harvesters and Midwestern farmers.
Mockett writes with deep vulnerability and displays genuine humility when she is with her subjects. Yet she never panders, never overshares, and -- to her immense credit -- shows us all how to questions our presuppositions while maintaining our personal dignity. It's a remarkable feat, and might be the most important contribution in her desire for us all to overcome the "divide." Highly recommended.
On the surface you might think this is an unbiased attempt at an ethnography of a wheat harvesting crew or anthropological study of heartland Americans. But this book is SO much more intimate than I expected it to be, and it is moving.
The gears that turn these pages consist of memoir, American history, and the science of farming. But the grease for those gears are the palpable tensions of race, spirituality, identity and various degrees of hospitality shown by the harvesters and Midwestern farmers.
Mockett writes with deep vulnerability and displays genuine humility when she is with her subjects. Yet she never panders, never overshares, and -- to her immense credit -- shows us all how to questions our presuppositions while maintaining our personal dignity. It's a remarkable feat, and might be the most important contribution in her desire for us all to overcome the "divide." Highly recommended.
anneaustex's review
4.0
The author inherits a large Nebraska farm about which she knows very little. She joins the evangelical Christian harvesting crew that has worked her family’s farm. The team will work a season of contract harvest jobs from Texas to Idaho. She lives their nomad life, attends their churches, joins them for meals, rides in trucks, combines, and tractors that is an existence very different from her life in California. The reader becomes party to her experiences, revelations, and thoughts. As a Japanese American she is noticed frequently for her difference and she speaks candidly about how she feels in a variety of situations.
amcorbin's review against another edition
hopeful
informative
reflective
slow-paced
hillarycopsey's review against another edition
3.0
This book took me a long time because I couldn't quite wrap my head around what it was. Mockett's writing is both deliberate in tone and meandering in topic. Reading this book is a little like reading her thoughts, I think, or at least going along with her as she falls down one rabbit hole than another. But, to be fair, she tells us from the very beginning that this is how she thinks, how her family raised her to think: to ask questions and find out for yourself. A question is the impetus for her journey with the harvesters and this book, but by the end, mostly we just have more questions.
This makes it sound like I didn't enjoy this book. I did. I liked thinking through those questions with Mockett.
This makes it sound like I didn't enjoy this book. I did. I liked thinking through those questions with Mockett.
vanna's review against another edition
informative
reflective
slow-paced
3.0
I gave this book 3 stars because some of the content was interesting, informative, and thoughtful. It allowed me to question my own beliefs without feeling like I was being pushed to change them. Her insights are deep and meaningful. Her questions are important and good ones to ask.
Now, on to the 2 stars that I didn't give this book. Her descriptions are flowers and long. She gives details about places and events that seem to have little to do with the actual narrative or point of the book. Cutting those out would've cut this book in half and made it more pleasurable to read. It took me a long time and a lot of coaxing to finish it. If I weren't reading it for my book club at work, I probably wouldn't have finished it.
I can't really say that I took away anything super important other than a new curiosity about faith and what that means today. This book inspired me to maybe look into some other books regarding faith in modern times. Did it change any of my beliefs or opinions? No. The author's constant worry about where she was fitting into this world of harvest crews and the Great Plains distracted from the main issue that she was talking about. And you never really feel that initial question she asks at the beginning of the book is answered. If anything, she seems more confused by the time you reach the last page.
All that being said, there are some good takeaways and good discussion points, provided you're with a group of people who are willing to discuss rather than debate.
My advice is to skim past the paragraphs and pages that are nothing but descriptions. You won't miss anything and will probably be less overwhelmed and confused when you're done with it.
Now, on to the 2 stars that I didn't give this book. Her descriptions are flowers and long. She gives details about places and events that seem to have little to do with the actual narrative or point of the book. Cutting those out would've cut this book in half and made it more pleasurable to read. It took me a long time and a lot of coaxing to finish it. If I weren't reading it for my book club at work, I probably wouldn't have finished it.
I can't really say that I took away anything super important other than a new curiosity about faith and what that means today. This book inspired me to maybe look into some other books regarding faith in modern times. Did it change any of my beliefs or opinions? No. The author's constant worry about where she was fitting into this world of harvest crews and the Great Plains distracted from the main issue that she was talking about. And you never really feel that initial question she asks at the beginning of the book is answered. If anything, she seems more confused by the time you reach the last page.
All that being said, there are some good takeaways and good discussion points, provided you're with a group of people who are willing to discuss rather than debate.
My advice is to skim past the paragraphs and pages that are nothing but descriptions. You won't miss anything and will probably be less overwhelmed and confused when you're done with it.
readrunsea's review against another edition
5.0
Ok, as someone with an ag background, I have a special chamber in my heart for ag narratives. This one is *expansive* but not in the ways I was expecting. It's more of a sociological study than a scientific one, but that is just as fascinating, because where society and farming interact is also totally my jam. Mockett does a lot of reflection on the different narratives around farming and food, and the culture of a very specific group of custom wheat harvesters, who are evangelical Christians from Pennsylvania (?!) I was not aware this was a thing. Religion, the nature of work, ideas of ownership and superiority, and the "American divide" are all explored in-depth. At times I felt the author, in her all-out attempt to truly understand this harvest crew, was too forgiving of their whiteness and the attendant language and behaviors that go with it. But overall I found this book so interesting, and though it is very long and detailed, I think this works in its favor. Bonus points for some truly gorgeous lyrical descriptions of farm landscapes.