Coop

A Year of Poultry, Pigs and Parenting
by Michael Perry

It's been two weeks since I actually read this book (and the next one), so I don't recall exactly my first impressions, nor do I feel there's much I can say about it that hasn't already been said by other bloggers. See reviews linked to below. This one will be short.

Coop isn't really quite what the subtitle suggests. Yes, it's about a family man on a small farm, struggling to patch things together so he can raise chickens and pigs, alongside welcoming a new baby into his life. But the chickens really don't get much notice, and even the pigs feel like a sidestory. Mostly, the book is about family life. What it was like for him to grow up in a large family full of foster siblings, and in a small, obscure fundamentalist Christian church. To learn farmwork from an early age. The first half of the book feels almost entirely a memoir, the second part focuses more on his current life, putting together his own family and organizing things -in a haphazard way that reminds me of how I put together my own sorry cold frame- to make his farm somewhat functional. Even though it wasn't quite what I expected, I enjoyed reading it very much. Perry is a good writer, thoughtful and entertaining. A good book.

Borrowed from the public library. Got on my TBR list thanks to Raging Bibliomania and the Capricious Reader.

Rating: 3/5            352 pages, 2009

more opinions at:
Stuff as Dreams Are Made On
It's All About Books
the Quiet Man