A review by corneliadolian
Animal, Vegetable, Miracle: A Year of Food Life by Camille Kingsolver, Steven L. Hopp, Barbara Kingsolver
5.0
Had this year-in-the-life adventure been told by a less amazing storyteller, it might have fallen flat and read like a preachy instruction manual. But Kingsolver infused even the most mundane of tasks with wit, color and crackle. Her prose is stunning. She can write about something like a pumpkin with such beauty that it makes you cry. True story.
The most important thing about books like this one — books with a clear socio-political action-oriented angle — is to keep them from being preachy. I think Kingsolver does this fairly well by laying her cards out on the table in a sort of "Hey, I'm not saying you have to totally revamp your life, or that it's easy peasy lemon squeezy. I'm just chronicling how it went for us. I believe in this, I had a good experience. Do with that what you will, though hopefully that'll be to eat a bit more consciously." For the most part, the people likely to pick up Animal Vegetable Miracle are those who already have some interest in local eating, agriculture, the environment or the processes by which we get our food. So, the best thing you can do as an author for that audience is give them a real account of what it was like for you and yours. Which, again, I think Kingsolver accomplishes.
I really wished Kingsolver's youngest daughter could have contributed to the writing, as the rest of the family did, because she's very entertaining and interesting in every anecdote where she's mentioned.
I loved this book, ups, downs and in-betweens. Not just because it addresses a topic I'm interested in and wide-eyed about, but because it does so in a beautiful, yet earthy, way. After reading Kingsolver's account, I continue to marvel at the bounty of nature and local eating, but also come away with a more grounded understanding of what that actually takes and how it works.
This is one of those books I definitely want on my shelf, in a tangible, 400 crease-able pages way, because I know I'll return to it time and again. I can't wait to try some of the recipes.
The most important thing about books like this one — books with a clear socio-political action-oriented angle — is to keep them from being preachy. I think Kingsolver does this fairly well by laying her cards out on the table in a sort of "Hey, I'm not saying you have to totally revamp your life, or that it's easy peasy lemon squeezy. I'm just chronicling how it went for us. I believe in this, I had a good experience. Do with that what you will, though hopefully that'll be to eat a bit more consciously." For the most part, the people likely to pick up Animal Vegetable Miracle are those who already have some interest in local eating, agriculture, the environment or the processes by which we get our food. So, the best thing you can do as an author for that audience is give them a real account of what it was like for you and yours. Which, again, I think Kingsolver accomplishes.
I really wished Kingsolver's youngest daughter could have contributed to the writing, as the rest of the family did, because she's very entertaining and interesting in every anecdote where she's mentioned.
I loved this book, ups, downs and in-betweens. Not just because it addresses a topic I'm interested in and wide-eyed about, but because it does so in a beautiful, yet earthy, way. After reading Kingsolver's account, I continue to marvel at the bounty of nature and local eating, but also come away with a more grounded understanding of what that actually takes and how it works.
This is one of those books I definitely want on my shelf, in a tangible, 400 crease-able pages way, because I know I'll return to it time and again. I can't wait to try some of the recipes.