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 enlarge | Manufacturer: HarperCollins e-books
Category: EBooks
List Price: $11.95
Buy New: $9.56
You Save: $2.39 (20%)
Avg. Customer Rating:  312 reviews
Sales Rank: 117
Format: Kindle Book
Media: Kindle Edition
Number Of Items: 1
Pages: 384
Dewey Decimal Number: 641.0973
ASIN: B000QTD62Y
Publication Date: May 8, 2007
Availability: Usually ships in 24 hours
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| Customer Reviews:
 Inspirational, Entertaining and Informative September 27, 2008
Barbara Kingsolver knows how to impart her knowledge with a wit and style that keeps you entertained and at the same time makes you want to change the world (or your life, at least).
 Pretentious, condescending and should have been interesting September 26, 2008
3 out of 3 found this review helpful
I picked up this book with no history of Ms. Kingsolver as an author, simply thinking the premise behind the book, trying to purchase local foods and understanding the history of food and agriculture would prove interesting. As a typical homeowner with a small vegetable garden, I also thought it might prove to have some good tips. Sadly, any positives out of the book gets lost and weighed down by a superior and condescending writing style.
Ms. Kingsolver suffers from the same problems that afflict so many "advocate" authors, whether they be on the right,left, conservative, liberal side of a position. Instead of presenting an interesting and positive position based on a combination of facts and beliefs, she starts from the assumption that her viewpoint is simply a superior one and then continues to mock, insult, judge any other viewpoint or process.
A reader knows right away that when the first chapter extols the virtues of a European lifestyle without critically pointing out the flaws or the negative consequences of that culture and then proceeds to make silly conclusions that Europeans must be healthier because they have nude beaches, you know exactly what is coming next, a trashing of all things American. Instead of sticking to critical analysis of what is wrong with the American process of agriculture and food culture, the book is a romp in trashing any innovation, an assumption that all advances in food "technology" was part of the usual corporate conspiracy, and a self-righteous tome about how she is living her life.
The sad part is that many of her arguments are valid: There is a vast amount of energy wasted in current shipping of agricultural goods, the use of excessive pesticides and chemicals has not significantly decreased crop disease, the failure of a majority of not just Americans, but most citizens of developed nations to understand the food chain, the importance of local farmers to a society and to a community. There should have been an interesting story here without the pretentiousness, or moral/agricultural superiority. The book provides good sources for anyone interested in understanding local farming, in how and when vegetables grow and when they really should be purchased and eaten.
However, by the time I was able to even make it through the fifth chapter, as a reader I could not take any more preaching. WE GET IT, you are better then the rest of us. Even as someone sympathetic to much of what she was saying, I still could not digest anymore, nor did I care and that is the worst sin of any author; making your reader not care.
 Stunning! September 23, 2008
Kingsolver's Animal, Vegetable, Miracle is just that - a miracle! Her most stunning novel to date and amazingly enough, it is NON-fiction! It changed my views totally - I am a much more intelligent shopper and cook and consumer now... and food tastes waaaay better! I am feeling better, too!
5 super stars for Barbara Kingsolver! A MUST read!!!
 Animal, Vegetable, Miracle September 22, 2008
I have always been interested in growing things and farming because some of the earlier generations of my family were farmers. I learned much from this book about potatoes and how they grow a green leafy plant when they are ready to pull. I also learned that pineapples don't grow on trees... I didn't know this, they look like tree-fruit to me.
A lot of this book was interesting, and I had much to learn from it. Then there were times where you would get to much farming detail and it got a little boring. Lastly, there were times when they would beat you over the head with how Americans don't eat healthy. Yes ... Yes I raise my hand. I am one of those, but you don't have to keep repeating it. I also picked this book hoping it would give me that kick in the butt to eat healthier, and it didn't really because it's too late for me to start growing my own food, so I just felt bad throughout the book. I have thought about buying locally, but no I haven't don't that either. I had a hard time getting through this book mostly I think because of feeling bad about myself part and because you can only read or listen to a person talk about a certain subject for so long before you have to take a break. I needed lots of breaks.
Becoming a locovore September 19, 2008
The locovore movement - practice of eating locally produced food - is definitely picking up steam, and rightfully so, there are plenty of benefits: economic support for local producers, social and health benefits, and general appreciation for food we consume. The lack of a 'food culture', as Barbara Kingsolver points out, is leading North America down a dangerous track: health problems abound, obesity is on the rise, our dependence on imports is higher than ever.
However, as with any passionate message, there are certainly shades of extremism as well: no you don't have to wear Birkenstocks and swear off supermarket produce, nor make your own cheese. Should you try, if you so desire... of course! At the end of the day, it comes down to your appreciation and need for well tasting food - whatever that means, in your context.
If you have never lived or spent time on a farm, "Animal, Vegetable, Miracle" is a great window into that universe. The book is well organized and easy to read, just apply sound judgment to the context and the arguments discussed by the authors.
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