Well...normally I am a Kingsolver fan. I like the way she writes--simple and straight forward. Her stories, both long an short are well done. But this book just really pissed me off. It's a non-fiction account of her back to the land movement with her family. The book starts off well and good. She describes their reasoning for leaving Tuscon and moving to a farm they inherited. She talks about the trials and tribulations of trying to live off of what they can either produce themselves through farming or buy locally. (Each family member is only allowed one "luxury" item. This consists of foodstuffs that can't be produced at home or bought locally. It's a bit over the top if you ask me but I suppose an interesting addition to their overall movement.) Kingsolver makes a lot of good points about eating what's in season and offers some handy recipes.

However, about mid-way through the book, her passion and reflections take an unfortunate turn to absolute preachiness. She writes as if our understanding of the food chain stops at our understanding of how to open a bag of Doritos. She proceeds to slam vegetarians--apparently we do not get the concept of family farming because if we did we would eat locally raised animals. She also looks down her nose at those who shop at supermarkets for food--apparently people who think we are doing good by purchasing organic items are really not. Ditto for those who use recycled paper towels. I guess her family makes their own. She gets on a high horse about, of all things, canning. She maintains that us city folk could feed ourselves off the land year round if we would only can the fruits and vegetables we buy at the farmer's market in the summer and store them in our pantry. Perhaps if Barbara went to a real NYC apartment, and not just those of her publisher and editor, she would realize that most of us, if we are lucky, have a broom closet and 2 cabinets. If only I would be selfless enough to keep my clothes on my fire escape.

I guess what made me the maddest about this reading experience is that I really like Kingsolver as an author and was looking forward to her take on living off the land. I also liked the premise of this particular book. It reminded me of a book my father-in-law wrote years and years ago, only this one is a hell of a lot less funny. We all have a responsibility to conserve and be aware of our impact. But her assumption that we're all bumbling idiots just threw me over the edge. Too bad. I hope her next piece is fiction.