The Rural Life

by Verlyn Klinkenborg

Book Overview

This "luminous, brilliant" meditation on life in the countryside will encourage you to see the natural world -- and our place in it -- anew (New York Times Book Review).

With an eloquence unmatched by any other living writer, Verlyn Klinkenborg observes the juncture at which our lives and the natural world intersect. His yearlong meditation on the rigors and wonders of country life -- encompassing memories of his family's Iowa...

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0316735515
• ISBN13: 9780316735513
• Release Date: January 2004
• Publisher: Back Bay Books
• Length: 213 Pages
• Weight: 0.48 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.6" x 5.5" x 8.3"

Customer Reviews

A man you would want as a friend

Like Klinkenborg I own a horse farm, and also like him I am a relative neophyte to the trials and pleasures of operating such a farm. it is from this perspective that I read and enjoyed his book. The intellectual rigor with which he argues his points, combined with the openness and honesty of his country naiveté is both charming and engaging. His description of the 9/11 aftermath was particularly memorable, but it was the every day acute observations of the changes and happenings on his farm which enthralled me. Even those potential readers who do not live in the country will enjoy his wit and insights.

A very pleasurable read!

To read this delightful little book was to be carried into his space and more fully into my own. It made me breathe slower. I know of no higher praise to give. Once, right in the middle of reading, I stopped, called a friend on the phone and asked for a moment to read a passage. She, too, was delighted.

A Book for All Seasons

Verlyn Klinkenborg's latest book has just been released and apparently it is flying out of bookstores everywhere (within 3 weeks of it's publication date, it had already gone into a second printing). Klinkenborg is a member of the editorial board of the New York Times, where, for the past five years, he has been writing a column entitled "The Rural Life." Some of us have been assiduously saving these essays, most no more that 700 words, not to mention the fact that we have been regularly sending them to our relatives and friends who don't read the Times. The fact that some 100 of them are collected into a single volume, ordered by the months of the year, seems almost too good to be true. This beautifully written book is about as close to poetry as prose gets.The Rural Life is a book about observations, the observations of someone carrying the imprint of a childhood on farms Iowa and California, and now, in middle age, and somewhat to his own surprise, trying his own hand at farming on a small tract of land in upstate New York. One of the things that is so compelling about the book is the author's genuine sense of wonder and pleasure at noticing the small details of life in the natural world. By being quiet and gentle in his interactions, Klinkenborg finds himself receiving a free education where many have found only frustration. True, Klinkenborg has the luxury of not being dependent on farming for his livelihood. However, with so much bankruptcy in the world--financial, political, spiritual-we need somebody to remind us that if we just pay attention to the small change there's enough wealth for everyone. Richmond, MA 12/20/02

A Gem, a Source of Peace

The two-star review from the farmer in Iowa is well-meaning and correct about his life, but Verlyn Klinkenborg--although he hails from that background--is writing from another place. No, Klinkenborg is not out doing the tough physical work to earn his living, but what he tells us about living is essential to those of us who often imagine ourselves in his shoes and appreciate what he shares. If you want a sense of the book, read the Editorial Reviews, which well describe his poetic love for the rural experience.

Klinkenborg's prairienative roots run deep

Industrialized farming has provided our society with a steady supply of cheap and convenient food. Verlyn Klinkenborg's family was / is part of that industrialization success story. Even if that food from that industry has acceptable nutritional quality, many of us recognize that industrialized food is lacking in culture and spiritual substance. Something has been lost.But it does not make sense for our society to ask for more expensive food or give up convenience. Those attributes afford us the opportuntity and resources to advance further. Collections like "The Rural Life" allow our society to critically, collectively explore, debate and evaluate our alternatives. This collection is particularly important because of the questions and hopes it raises regarding transcendent nature of agriculture. The alternative to the transcendant approach is massive subsidization of an old, inefficient industry. Subsidization is politically expedient, but it's a zero sum game. We can do better -- we must expect more. Transcendance will require patience, wisdom and vision ... and a few good books like "The Rural Life."