Barbara Kingsolver Books

After successfully graduating high school without succumbing to pregnancy like most of her classmates, the last thing Taylor Greer wants is to raise a child. But, thanks to a chance encounter, she suddenly finds herself the foster mother of a Cherokee toddler named Turtle.

Despite Taylor's initial reluctance, her heart softens when she finds out how horribly Turtle was abused as a baby. Together, the two set off in a new life in Arizona, where they live on Taylor's minimum-wage earnings and wit.

Then Taylor meets Lou Ann, another transplanted Southerner. Having recently become a mother herself, Lou Ann's been abandoned by her husband and is now seeking a housemate to split the rent. Taylor takes her up on the offer, and discovers that family can be found in the least expected of places...

If you enjoy this book, be sure to read "Pigs in Heaven," which continues Taylor's and Turtle's story.

I received a copy of this book from my daughter who was about to celebrate her 33rd birthday. The Amazon gift wrap was lovely. And she wrote and told me this was a gift for giving life to her and more. And I began to read the essays and the letters and the poems. And although each author had a different mother, there seemed to be a universal theme....love. And in some cases, lack of love. These are letters and poems that one can read and re-read and share with friends because there is so much thought and insights into that special unique relationship between mother and daughter. To have received this book from my daughter makes it all the more special....but the collection is filled with words that make my memories spin and I am happy that my daughter has always told me what she has meant to say...Mothers can send this book to their daughters. Daughters should send this book to their mothers. And if any man wishes to know why the relationship between mother and daughter is so very special, he can read this book too. Thanks to the editor who compiled the various works! This book is a keeper!

One of the best American writers

If you read the city of joy, this novel have a same spirit of the comunion with the world.The reality is amizing and the feelin is honestly.soory my inglish is so bad...so i like this book

One of the best books I've ever read, by one of the best female authors of our time.

These are very inspiring essays by one of our most brilliant writers. If you have enjoyed her fiction, you will really like her voice (literally, as she reads her essays aloud)as an observer of our human condition on this planet. There is a particularly great take on the 911 catastrophe.

I found Barbara Kingsolver's "A Small Wonder" inspirational. It's the first time I've finished a book and immediately turned it over and read it again! Ms. Kingsolver is a perceptive storyteller and the way she portrays everyday experiences sheds an illuminating perspective on a better way to experience life - from how we use resources, to how we raise our kids, to how we relate to others. It's a wonderful guidebook for those who are concerned about peace, family and the environment. Everyone should read it because we should all be concerned about these things!

This book would rank as a Master's thesis on the author's year of research as a locavore when compared to introductory works on food such as Harvest for Hope and the Omnivore's Dilemma. Having set aside Christianity in the Poisonwood Bible (much as the author of Infidel set aside Islam) Barbara Kingsolver now preaches about her commitment to eating local food. Her new faith that a family that plucks feathers together and eats healthy food will be fortified to face life and thrive. Her family members provide varied perspectives often incorporating humor. Several laugh-out-loud moments involved her description of turkey mating.

At times I felt exposed to too much detail about asparagus tomato zucchini goats and squash but I feel more inclined to pick up fresh produce at the Farmer's Market and will try some of her recipes and preservation techniques. Her argument against a vegetarian lifestyle was a big surprise worth the price of this book. If you have questioned the sustainability of spending non renewable petroleum to ship food and water around the globe, you will find wise alternatives in this book.
The Omnivore's Dilemma: A Natural History of Four Meals, The Poisonwood Bible: A Novel (P.S.), Infidel, Harvest for Hope: A Guide to Mindful Eating

I like the message of this book and I consider myself an environmentalist. I eat mostly organic and natural foods. However, I find Kingsolver's tone to be overly preachy for most of the book. I agree that we all need to take actions to change the cultural norms of our country but I don't think it's always as easy as she makes it sound. We don't all have the luxury of owning a large plot of land in a favorable growing climate. Also, her logic is failed at several points in the book. In her defense of eating meat, Kingsolver uses goats in marginal parts of Africa to justify the need for non-vegetable food sources. Okay, if you live in Africa I'll buy that explanation. But, that's not a good argument for somebody living where growing plants is not a problem. She seems unwilling to admit that raising livestock can be a drain on energy and a major source of pollution. Her defense of tobacco farming also seems a little stretched. Yes, it provides jobs, but what are the costs? I find it annoying when somebody thinks that they have all of the answers. Even more annoying is when they try to convince you that there is one silver bullet for fixing all problems. The isolationism that Kingsolver advocates can lead to more issues. Trading with other countries in a responsible manner (labor laws, environmental regulations, etc.) can give the people in those countries a chance at a better life that they would not otherwise get. Kingsolver should open an economics book and read about the concept of comparative advantage. You don't have to do everything for yourself. And it doesn't kill the U.S. to have economic ties to other countries. We may just build some friendships that way. In the end we're all tied together on this planet. The basic ideas of this book are worthwhile and I'm glad that they're getting some attention. But, an article in a magazine could have gotten across the same point without beating the reader over the head so many times. Finally, I enjoyed Camille's sections the most because she seemed more down to earth and in touch with reality.

...it just didn't keep my interest. I've enjoyed some of Kingsolver's fiction, though it bothers me when characters get preachy. The messages should be clear throughout the story without a long monologue or didactic dialog. The writing in this was sort of flat and not very engaging. Since it's set up like a sort of "family scrapbook"-- excerpts from each family member, such as a more scientific point of view [Kingsolver's husband] and a younger generation's perspective [her daughter]-- perhaps that's too many voices or too jarring. Other similar writers such as Michael Pollan or Eric Schlosser have some more interesting ways of writing about the same subject with more poetry and action. One plus that it has going for it-- it's a neat idea, and certainly has me wondering why I can't actually get more local foods in a state that has plenty of agricultural offerings.

I cannot get enough of this book. It has completely changed the way that I look at food. I work in food policy, but this book taught me a lot of things I didn't know and inspired me to shop locally more often. I've even started a small vegetable garden!

Many of the reviewers seem not to have gotten the point of this book. We are slowly killing ourselves and our culture with our reliance on industrialized foods. Current skyrocketing prices are one proof. We use up so many resources to get our food from point A to point B when we should be eating within our environment as much as possible. Food travels from country to country, and losing the depth and variety we could be having locally.

Barbara Kingsolver is a gifted writer and this memoir about HER experience is beautiful. It's not a treatise on "live my exact life;" it's about making changes that can have worldwide implications.

If you expect a typical Kingsolver book, you will be disappointed. But if you put that aside, this is a fabulous book! She catches the current movement towards sustainable living and shows us the practicalities as well as what it means for farmers around the country. I love the familial collaboration with her husband providing more scientific information and her eldest daughter providing recipes (which are delicious, by the way). I really think this is an important book because it makes this lifestyle accessible for people who are not environmental extremists (or who grew up on farms where this information would be 'old hat') but who want to do what they can to make a difference: not only to the environment but also for the nation's farmers, who lead a very difficult life. And as a bonus, the food is fresher (=tastier).

Wonderful book. So full of the real side of life that is sorely missing in today's culture. Would love for my grandchildren to read it.

As you might expect of a former English professor and school teacher,
the book is easy to read and is well-written. The author's reminiscences about growing up on an Iowa farm are interesting because her formative
years were the difficult years of the Great Depression, when economy and making do with what one had were important virtues. She demonstrates the way in which the family was extraordinarily thrifty in saving and making use of every scrap of food, piece of clothing and spare bit of thread.
Like a number of the books that have been written about people's lives in
more exotic locations, like "A Year in Provence" or "Under the Tuscan Sun", the author also provides some recipes that she particularly enjoyed when she lived on the farm in addition to when she prepared meals for a
family. The variety of home remedies are also fun to take a look at. On the whole, it is an entertaining book as well as a lesson in how times of thrift and privation needn't be unhappy.

Little Heathens is a near anthropological survey of life on a small family farm in Iowa during the 1930's, when there was no electricity, running water, bathrooms and very few if any "store bought" goods. It is today a world foreign in this age of convenience and Millie laments the loss of the "rich store of knowledge that had been bestowed on us by life on that simple farm," and the self-confidence and self-reliance it fostered. It's odd that this simple little memoir - nothing more than an elder grandparent retelling what life was like "when I was young" - has struck a chord with so many readers, it is one of the New York Times 10 most notable books of 2007. The Times attributes its success in part because so many memoirs today are about unsavory people doing scandalous things, it is a relief to read about a real person going about a "normal" life (if such a thing exists), someone you'd like to have as a relative or friend, or even to walk in her shoes (when she wore any). Partly it is Millie herself who is humble, sincere and likable.

But it is also, I believe, about bigger current day issues: Global Warming, Peak Oil, Recessions, high food prices and other man-made slow motion train wrecks have many questioning if society is on the right track and naturally many are looking back to the past for answers. A return to the country, simplicity, slow pace of life, the values of thrift, honor and tradition are finding wides audiences in modern forms, such as organics, slow food, alternative energy. They say when you reach a certain age "everything old is new again" and Millies account of the 1930s is finding a lot of interest in these times. It's a beautiful book of substance and simplicity, I recommend it highly.

A five Star book for me!
Even tho' I was born in SD in '42, I could relate to many of the chapters, but ours was a much less difficult time.
I have sent copies of the book to 2 cousins and a close friend from Iowa who needed a good laugh to help him through some tough times. This book will definitely "take you away" and give you the therapy of many good laughs. You will also count your blessings that we live in this age.
I compared it to Laura Ingalls Wilder books... with the tough times... except the Iowans were surrounded by generations of family in the same location; rather than a family alone moving from state to state enduring those hardships. What a heartwarming wonderfully written book that you just want to share with all, and hope that it brings them as many laughs and as much food for thought as you got while reading it.

I first checked this book out of the public library but once I started reading it I realized there were some really good home remedies and other info that I wanted forever so I bought a copy for myself. I also loaned it to my mother to read who enjoyed it as well - she said it brought up old memories for her. It is a wonderful book and it makes everyone want to tell their parents to write their stories down before they are forgotten or lost!

I love how this book takes a bunch of different story threads, follows them in a compelling way with great summer symbolism and language, and then manages to tie them together in a subtle, meaningful, non-cheesy way. This is my favorite Barbara Kingsolver book, and actually one of my favorite books of all time.

Barbara Kingsolver's novel Prodigal Summer is undoubtedly one of the best books that I have ever read. I could hardly put it down - through Christmas Eve and Christmas day I fell hopelessly into the world she created there in the Appalachain mountains, in the woods, on the farms - the intricate and all too real human relations and inner reflections of her well rounded, surprisingly developed, fleshy characters - each with a soft, endearing quality of his or her own that makes the reader feel comfortably familiar with their thoughts and presence.

The conflict between human and nature, and the conflict within oneself - that of solitude versus company, society versus wilderness. A book about change, environmental consciousness and learning to accept hardship and to do what you can with what you have, forging a path through life that is never clear yet always ripe with opportunities to recreate oneself, to start something new.

This would not be a book for everyone, I am sure - this I can see from some of the other reviews... but as a vegetarian, caring for the environment and its fine balance and being afraid that so much of what I love in the world, our natural surroundings, will be lost - as a world traveler, having been through many of the things that she describes in this book, academically, emotionally, indescribably - though in a different setting - I can't help but want to recommend this book to everyone that I know! I would love to have an opportunity to talk with the author, I would ask a million questions - I have a great respect for her, am really amazed at her work.

I am very picky about my books and a writer myself - and have a great respect for Kingsolver's talent for dialogue and description of setting, as well as the abundance of scientific information in the book regarding plant and animal species and each one's individual place in the ecosystem. Writing a book is not easy, as anyone will know - and this is a book that not only beautifully weaves its story into itself and its surroundings, but serves to bring up and address (from both sides) important issues of how we treat the world in which we live and the profound effect that each human being has on his or her surroundings, even in the smallest sense - even by stepping one foot into the forest, or how we kill a few weeds in our lawn.

One of the things that I love most about this book is its graceful avoidance of overbearing preachiness and cheesy clichee love scenes - there is none of this in this novel, anywhere. I love the simplicity and subtlety of its message - yet at same time its wonderful feminine, earthy strength, seemingly woven into the hills and woods that serve as setting for this beautifully written story about the dance of the trees, the wind, tears, rain and new life. Incredible.

I found this book absorbing and informative. It is gently hopeful and unapologetically honest in its treatment of ecological issues and its character's predilections. Being the first of Kingsolver's that I have read, I am suprised to find so many negative reviews of it - primarily by people who have read other books by BK. It is, after all, a work of fiction - why do so many reviewers demand 'correct' information?? If Ms Kingsolver was writing non-fiction, I would agree with those of you who insist on pointing out where her 'facts' are off-beam, but can't you allow some poetic licence to a woman who can expertly weave a shimmering tapestry of the conflicting prejudices of a small town's inhabitants? She is clearly familiar with the workings of the minds of her pro- and antagonists, portraying them with compassion and honesty, although I wonder if this can be appreciated by those of us who aren't senstitive to our own taken-for-granted assumptions about our own values and beliefs... I don't think this book is 'preachy' at all, it's just straightforward - perhaps the more bitter reviewers would prefer some subtle brainwashing so that they don't notice if any wool is being pulled over their eyes? Quite frankly, I'd rather know where the writer is coming from so that I can easily determine whether to read on or not. Being deceptively coerced into believing someone else's opinion doesn't appeal to me, so I respect Ms Kingsolver for her openness in referring to ecological issues - especially for her exquisite ability to interweave ecology with human behaviour. Many of us see ecology as being 'out there' rather than in our own backyards, not just physically but also in our own minds and behaviour. Prodigal Summer succeeds in making the connections between the inside and the outside and it is this that makes it such a work of art.

Regarding the comments about the 'trashy' nature of the sex etc., I didn't see these that way at all, instead I saw the portrayal of Deanna and Eddie as a particularly sensitive insight into the workings of a woman's mind when she attempts to balance the pull of her own sexual nature with her ideological and philosophical convictions. This is a dilemma for many women, and reading this was comforting - it affirmed for me that I am not the only one who has experienced such division.

If you have read other BK novels, I would advise you to add some openness to your attitude when you read this book - it's not EXACTLY like the rest, it seems. If you are seeking a replica of her previous works you might be disappointed. But doesn't that defeat the purpose of reading a book? Of our favourite authors' works, some we like more than others, but that doesn't mean that we should abandon them altogether just because a particular work didn't appeal to our particular tastes. If BK's work didn't grow and change with the passing of time, she'd really have something to worry about. As for me, I'm tempted not to read anything else she's written because it may not measure up to this one, particularly in view of the some of the negative reviews I've read here that constantly COMPARE it to her other works. It's all a matter of opinion, and opinion is very dependent on the perspective of its originator, so if you want an absorbing read and you're not afraid of someone who speaks out about their belief in life, ecology, human fallibility, hope and love - then read Prodigal Summer and you will be really moved by its beautiful language, gentle interweaving of characters and positive message for change in the world.

While Prodigal Summer has not enjoyed the level of popularity The Poisonwood Bible has seen amongst Kingsolver's fans, for me personally Prodigal Summer is, by far, the better work, more developed and more mature than the excellent, poetically beautiful and eventful Poisonwood Bible.

In Prodigal Summer Kingsolver's lyrical and sensitive language and detailed description transport us whole into the lives of Lusa, Deanna and the fascinating elderly feuding neighbors Nanny and Garnet

The various characters, even the minor ones, in Prodigal Summer are far more developed, more real, more 3d in comparison with the admittedly more poetic Poisonwood. In Prodigal the pace, throughout, is restrained, consistent, the various plots nicely develop towards a future meeting point at a natural pace. Beautifully crafted and exciting natural meeting point emerge in a slow fashion as we get to know more and more about our new friends.

Lusa, a city woman from Lexington, with a Polish Jewish father and Palestinian Moslem mother finds herself on a farm in an Appalachian valley. Lusa, surrounded by a closed society with lots of antagonistic and suspicious in-laws inherits the big house and the family farm. Conscious of the suffering and the loss of her Jewish family of their farm at the hands of the Nazis and the loss of her mother's Palestinian family of their farm at the hands of the Jews, Lusa won't quit she fights on to make a go of it. Lusa, an expert on bugs and moth, struggle with loneliness, widowhood and temptation, her desire to fit but to be herself, her whole being is so very beautifully created and brought to life in vivid colors before our eyes by Kingsolver. The minor in-laws start out as cardboard characters, a hateful envious lot in the distance; gradually they are turned into real people in Lusas' and our eyes.

Deanna, the Forest Service Rancher, living in the mountain above Lusa, nearly 20 years her senior, is the center of the second plot. Originally from the valley below, and had she stayed there she could have been Lusa's soul mate, has been on the mountain for two years. In love with the mountain, its animals, its birds and its weeds and trees, a true conservationist with a devotion to predators. Kingsolver portrays Deanna's life on the mountain with such detail and empathy, one can picture her log cabin, can see the little bird's nest and can smell the change in the air. Deanna's peace and tranquility are disturbed by an intense affair, one that leaves her confused about her own body but very clear on her ideas

The odd pair, the elderly Nanny and Garnet are so wonderfully painted by Kingsolver. Nanny, again a generation older than Deanna, is an organic farmer, a hardworking woman who has always stood up for her ideas and for her independence. A fascinating woman in her weaknesses, in her courage and in her wit. Kingsolver's talent, so clearly evident in Poisonwood in the way she wrote on behalf of the several characters, comes across so well here but in a more subtle way. The three women from different generations share a lot in their independence, self respect and love of nature, but they are different, they speak differently and they deal differently with life. In Poisonwood the daughters were very different and thus their language, when Kingsolver wrote on their behalf, was just as different. Here, the three women are so similar yet Kingsolver masterfully captured their far more subtle differences in their dialogue.

Garnet, an endearing and aggravating old man, dedicated his later years to finding a way to reestablish the American Chestnut tree, virtually wiped out by logging and blight. A devout Christian, a firm believer in insecticide and all the most inorganic farming techniques of the 50's and 60's is at odds with his neighbor. In Poisonwood Kingsolver's portrayals of the male characters was rather one dimensional, good or bad. Garnet is real, he has his insecurities and his kindness, his ignorance but he is also a formidable expert on raising goats which comes in handy for the Palestinian Lusa

This is a true masterpiece, beautifully crafted and written. Excellently researched and informative, and, wow, never forget about the coyotes, the proud mystical predators with their haunted cry and piercing eyes.

First off, let me preface this by saying that I am not a particular rabid fan of Barbara Kingsolver. I have read a couple of her books, and had mixed feelings about them. I enjoyed The Poisonwood Bible and recommended it to several friends. I found Pigs in Heaven to be unbearably preachy and didactic, attempting to take on extremely complicated issues via some almost obstinately flat characters. This book was recommended to me by several people, including my own mother, whose literary taste i usually share--i recommend it, but with caveats.

It takes place in Zebulon County (particularly in the forestland up on Zebulon Mountain and the townships and farms beneath in Zebulon Valley). I'm still not quite sure if Kingsolver pins down exactly where in "Southern Appalachia" it's supposed to be set, but based on the geographical references--one character is from the "big city" of Lexington, KY, and another refers to the close proximity of Knoxville and Johnson City, TN--I assume its the mountains along the eastern KY/TN border.

It follows three basic storylines.

The first is that of Deanna Wolfe, a forest ranger living in solitude on Zebulon Mountain, observing the wildlife, keeping the hiking and hunting trails clear, occasionally confronting hunters off-season. She comes across a wanderer named Eddie Bondo, whom she determines is hunting a coyote family she's been studying; of course, she's been all dried up alone and unlaid on a mountaintop so long she can't decide whether to hate him or screw him, or both. I liked her development as a character over the course but found her "relationship" with Mr. Bondo (who seemed to be pretty flat, to me) to be dubious at best.

The second is that of Lusa Landowski, an entomologist (bug scientist) from Lexington of mixed-culture parentage (Polish Jewish father and Palestinian mother) who moved to Zebulon Valley when she marries local farmer Cole Widener. At the start of the book she finds herself widowed, trying to eke out a living on the Widener family farm, and faced with an array of awkwardness and outright hostility from her husband's family.

The third involves a sort of minor feud between elderly farmers whose property lines abut, an eccentric organic orchard tender named Nannie Rawley and a pesticide-loving former 4H teacher and chestnut crossbreeder, Garnett Walker.

By the end of the book, Kingsolver has drawn you some beautiful pictures of the land, what makes it wonderful and what makes it sad. She's portrayed the quirks of these people, transcribed the lilt and meter of mountain speech, aptly set down succinct plain-folks colloquialisms, and she's shown you how the three seemingly entirely different stories are in fact interwoven threads of lives that cross and recross one another in the weave of the Zebulon Valley tapestry. For this, i loved this book.

I wasn't so keen, however, on how strictly drawn the "rights" and "wrongs" were. There is a very strong ecological agenda in this book (and, let me say that i myself am "in Kingsolver's camp" about it; i do agree with her position on revitalizing mountain ecology), and Kingsolver pretty much cracks the reader in the jaw with her position. The insufferable, closed-minded, and/or pompous characters make the ecologically "transgressive" choices, and they have to be patiently taught right-thinking by the independent, free-thinking, hippie-treehugging characters. Now, again, I'm somewhat of a hippie treehugger myself, and the characters aren't entirely black and white, two dimensional cartoons--I just felt that perhaps the conflicts on an ecological level could have had a bit more depth. I found myself wanting to know more about *why* the characters who were portrayed as doing "the wrong thing" had chosen to do so, since they didn't seem stupid and in need of hand-holding to me, and i wanted more of a justification on their behalves than just "they're obstinate, uneducated, and/or misled." It's unfortunate, because had she successfully woven this ecological thread into the book, i'd have called it perfect.

I did think the book benefitted from Kingsolver's background as a biologist; details about the behavioral patterns of the wildlife and plant life, coyote family structure, insect control via predation, extinction of breeds like the American chestnut and the ways in which people live in harmony or conflict with the land definitely broadened the scope of the novel and made it more interesting. Read this book for these things--the word-drawn postcards from the mountains, the nuances of interrelationships among mountain families and "outsiders", sounds and smells and troubles and lives. It is worth it, IMO, despite the ham-handed, preachy treatment of ecology.