Animal, Vegetable, Miracle: A Year of Food Life
 

Animal, Vegetable, Miracle: A Year of Food Life

by Barbara Kingsolver, Camille Kingsolver


Bestselling author Barbara Kingsolver returns with her first nonfiction narrative that will open your eyes in a hundred new ways to an old truth: You are what you eat.

"As the U.S. population made an unprecedented mad dash for the Sun Belt, one carload of us paddled against the tide, heading for the Promised Land where water falls from the sky and green stuff grows all around.... (read more)

Top tags: foodnonfictionnon-fictionmemoirgardening (all tags)

 

Member Reviews

  • Writer_Builder_Nomad
    3 of 3 members found this review helpful.
    • Rated 4 stars

    A book to make you think.

    I'm predisposed to like this book. This is something I've been looking into, slowly. I was excited about finding some tips for the greener life even though I'm only a middling fan of Kingsolver's (good writer, sometimes a bit preachy).

    If you can make it past the long first chapter where she feels the need to justify their lifestyle decisions (and preach a bit) the rest of the book is fairly balanced and often good fun (the turkey chapter is hilarious).
    Her husband's sections were succinct and logical. I liked how he put hard facts into small doses. Her daughter's sections were often repeats of her views but the recipes were interesting.

    In general I loved this book and what it was trying to do. Sometimes I felt Kingsolver was trying too hard to convince. I don't want to be manipulated (for instance discussing how corporations make money off of organic farmers and putting the figure the farmers' make as 200,000ish and then putting the corporate number as .3 million...which is 300,000. I just want her to use the real figures, don't manipulate it to make it seem larger). I want my facts and figures found in picking tomatoes and visiting feed lots, first hand stuff, and for the most part she does so in that breezy, winning way of hers. I loved the sections where she visited other people trying to lead simpler, greener lives.

    All in all a book well worth the read.

    Writer_Builder_Nomad wrote this review Saturday, January 19 2008. ( reply | permalink )
  • mom h
    1 of 1 members found this review helpful.
    • Rated 0 stars

    This book has a lot of good information for anyone interested in what they eat, the benefits of buying locally, govt regulations, etc. You may not have the land to do everything she does, but it has valuable info that you can glean from it, even if you only start with one plant to grow in your own yard.

    mom h wrote this review Sunday, July 20 2008. ( reply | permalink )
  • Going Green Gal
    1 of 1 members found this review helpful.
    • Rated 5 stars

    Entertaining and informative book from one of my favorite authors. She weaves information into her diary of a year spent attempting to raise the majority of food her family consumes. Her writing inspired me to begin a backyard garden with a much more modest attempt at growing a small portion of the food my family eats. After reading this book and The Omnivore's Dilemma, I am definitely more committed to purchasing local and organically grown food. Worth the read for anyone interested in food and the related environmental issues.

    Going Green Gal wrote this review Monday, July 14 2008. ( reply | permalink )
  • Jan R
    1 of 1 members found this review helpful.
    • Rated 5 stars

    This is not only another work of art from Kingsolver, but an important piece. This time her whole family joins in the effort. A practical and simply poetic presentation of living simply and how it changes the world, starting with their world. A diary crossed with a biology/ecology textbook with just a touch of political reality thrown in for accuracy and a side of innocent discovery from her girls.

    Jan R wrote this review Wednesday, June 11 2008. ( reply | permalink )
  • Colorado Library Consortium (CLiC)
    1 of 1 members found this review helpful.
    • Rated 5 stars

    Made me want to live off the grid and grow my own food and relive my hippie days! Barbara Kingsolver is such a great writer - my two favorites of hers are a book of essays, High Tide in Tucson, and Prodigal Summer. Shelley************************************************ Yeah, me too! I loved the book! I am now planting my own garden, raising turkeys, making a bigger commitment to recycle, and trying to buy local whenever I can. This book had a huge influence on my life so much so that my friend and I wrote a song about it. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QaHOy4l3P6Q ~ Judy Van Acker

    Colorado Library Consortium (CLiC) wrote this review Wednesday, May 7 2008. ( reply | permalink )
  • lemonlyman.com
    1 of 1 members found this review helpful.
    • Rated 5 stars

    A great combination of Barbara Kingsolver's beautiful writing we've missed, with a narrative about her experience eating only local foods for a year. A very compelling argument about why it's so important to know the origin of what you're eating...

    lemonlyman.com wrote this review Monday, August 6 2007. ( reply | permalink )
  • BrendaM
    1 of 1 members found this review helpful.
    • Rated 4 stars

    Indeed, this book will change your life...

    BrendaM wrote this review Monday, August 6 2007. ( reply | permalink )
  • Draco
    1 of 1 members found this review helpful.
    • Rated 5 stars

    If I could give this book 6 stars, I would. I highly recommend this for anyone who wants to make a difference in their local economy, theirs and their family's health and the environment (transportation/processing fuel and chemical/fertilizer/pesticide usage). There is also a discussion on her family's decision to bring meat back into their diets after they were able to get away from factory processed meats and raise their own livestock that they knew would be raised and slaughtered in a humane way. Kingsolver's writing is very informative, but not at all preachy. She gives a load of insight into a year in the life of her own family's experiment as locavores along with some of her failures and successes. Also includes information throughout and at the back of the book on how to get started as a locavore in your own area.

    Draco wrote this review Saturday, July 28 2007. ( reply | permalink )
  • sthurner
    • Rated 5 stars

    "This story about good food begins in a quick-stop convenience market." Kingsolver's story of a year dedicated to eating locally begins in a quickie-mart, but it ends on a Virginia farm with a turkey hatching her chicks. In between in the diary of a year of planting, raising, harvesting, cooking and eating. I really enjoyed reading this book, even though I no longer live on a farm, and no longer cook much (lucky me has a husband who loves cooking). Reading this I actually wanted to cook. I was so inspired I actually joined the natural food co-op where I have shopped on and off for twenty years or so, actually went to a local farmers' market and bought a sack of heirloom tomatoes to eat for lunch. I enjoyed the book also because it was a family project. Her daughter Camille added essays on eating and cooking locally, and her husband added information about organic vs. industrial farming. I was entertained (the turkey sex part was a hoot), and informed. Thumbs up.

    sthurner wrote this review 7 days ago. ( reply | permalink )
  • Meg M
    • Rated 3 stars

    This book, while dry, has far and away influenced my grocery shopping experience more than another book I've ever read.

    Meg M wrote this review 9 days ago. ( reply | permalink )
Displaying 1-10 of 197 reviews
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