The Good Good Pig: The Extraordinary Life of Christopher Hogwood

by Sy Montgomery

Book Overview

"In loving yet unsentimental prose, Sy Montgomery captures the richness that animals bring to the human experience. Sometimes it takes a too-smart-for-his-own-good pig to open our eyes to what most matters in life."
--John Grogan, author of Marley & Me: Life and Love with the World's Worst Dog

A naturalist who spent months at a time living on her own among wild creatures in remote jungles, Sy Montgomery had always felt more comfortable with animals than with people. So she gladly opened her heart to a sick piglet who had been crowded away from nourishing meals by his stronger siblings. Yet Sy had no inkling that this piglet, later named Christopher Hogwood, would not only survive but flourish--and she soon found herself engaged with her small-town community in ways she had never dreamed possible. Unexpectedly, Christopher provided this peripatetic traveler with something she had sought all her life: an anchor (eventually weighing 750 pounds) to family and home.

The Good Good Pig celebrates Christopher Hogwood in all his glory, from his inauspicious infancy to hog heaven in rural New Hampshire, where his boundless zest for life and his large, loving heart made him absolute monarch over a (mostly) peaceable kingdom. At first, his domain included only Sy's cosseted hens and her beautiful border collie, Tess. Then the neighbors began fetching Christopher home from his unauthorized jaunts, the little girls next door started giving him warm, soapy baths, and the villagers brought him delicious leftovers. His intelligence and fame increased along with his girth. He was featured in USA Today and on several National Public Radio environmental programs. On election day, some voters even wrote in Christopher's name on their ballots.

But as this enchanting book describes, Christopher Hogwood's influence extended far beyond celebrity; for he was, as a friend said, a great big Buddha master. Sy reveals what she and others learned from this generous soul who just so happened to be a pig--lessons about self-acceptance, the meaning of family, the value of community, and the pleasures of the sweet green Earth. The Good Good Pig provides proof that with love, almost anything is possible.

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0345496094
• ISBN13: 9780345496096
• Release Date: April 2007
• Publisher: Ballantine Books
• Length: 272 Pages
• Weight: 0.51 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.6" x 5.3" x 8.0"

Customer Reviews

A Life Worth Living

Noone that reads this book should ever think about ever eating pork ever again. These animals truly have feelings and emotions and experience love as the author describes so eloquently. We need more people like the author and her husband who treat their animals with kindness and respect. They believe in Tne Good good pig from the beginning and saw him through to the end. Oh, what a wonderful life to live.

A Delight - A Must Read!

This is the story of the life of a sickly pigling runt brought home in a shoebox to try to nurse to health. Christopher becomes a healthy, intelligent and gentle creature, who has a remarkable affect on his family, his neighbors, his little town, and even beyond! Sy Montgomery writes extremely well and is a great storyteller. Her insights into Christopher's affect - often healing - are wonderful.

Touching Read

A touching book about a pig that brought a community together and made an impression on the lives of those who knew him. You may think, why would I want to read about a pig? But believe me, you'll be glad you did. I'm a great animal lover,and find most books are too sad; however, I thoroughly enjoyed reading this. I am recommending it to everyone at the bookstore where I work.

lazyreaders.com book selection for June 2006

Every now and then I read a book that just captures my heart. Sorry if I sound like a school girl, but I was giddy reading this memoir of Montgomery's loveable pet pig. Montgomery is such a strong writer, as she manages to make me laugh throughout the book at her pig's celebrity status in her hometown. The book's real strength, however, is in the lessons this charming pig teaches a community. This is one of the best-written books I have read in years. To find this book and other cool short book club recommendations, go to www.lazyreaders.com.

hog hedonism

I devoured this book like its porcine protagonist--a runt among runts who grew to 750 pounds and lived nearly fourteen years--devoured his beloved slops. Author Sy Montgomery has a zest for life and a large heart for animals, and her story-telling and sense of humor soon drew me in among Christopher Hogwood's circle of caring friends. Hogwood is an intelligent, responsive, sensual individual, and vegetarian Montgomery hopes readers will make the connection between this runt grown large and the tens of millions of pigs reared anonymously inside sunless factory farms and slaughtered at six months. But she doesn't belabor the grim fate of most pigs. Foremost, this book celebrates the mostly happy existence of a creature with a solid appreciation for all the good things that come his way. Hogwood's hedonism, like Montgomery's loving care, is contagious. If you're not keen on the idea of becoming emotionally attached to a pig, avoid this book.

A good good story

When author Sy Montgomery brought home the sickliest runt of the pig litter as a pet, she never imagined how much he would grow and enrich the lives of all those who came in contact with him. This amazing pig not only thrived, but he reached 750 pounds of exuberance and free spirit. Christopher Hogwood was not just sociable and amusing, but he was also a catalyst for humans around him to help and support each other. In fact, the book is as much about the people who came in contact with Christopher as it is about the pig himself. Montgomery, who has written many publications on animal life around the world, brings her deep love and respect for all animals to this book. She includes descriptions of some of the places she has been and the amazing creatures she has studied. She treats Christopher with the same sense of wonder as she had for the legendary pink dolphins of Brazil and the man-killing tigers of India. She makes Christopher's gluttony a delight to imagine. She makes the reader chuckle at his opinionated personality and his enjoyment of being pampered at "pig spa." This memoir is funny, enlightening, and touching. If you loved the classic children's story "Charlotte's Web," you'll adore "The Good Good Pig." As Charlotte would have said, Christopher is some pig! Eileen Rieback