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It could be interesting but I got sick of that type of book. I used to read about city slickers giving it all up to live on some remote lake in a hand built cabin in Maine. or in a shack on Nantucket during the winter.
Then you find out they are filthy rich, didn't really do it all by themselves, and never stopped and thought things through so no wonder people thought they were kinda weird and no wonder their experiment failed.
The person who went to live in Maine--at the end you find out that she had professional help building the cabin, she had a snowmobile to get her across the lake AND her boyfriend used to take her in his plane to the Caribbean or some warm place throughout the winter. So she wasn't the hero she made herself out to be. She spent a few weeks in the cabin off and on by herself so that was courageous. But that is all.
The Nantucket person had loads of money too, no hardship, no clue as to what real life was all about. She could afford trips to the mainland and the best in groceries, no hardship except that she was rather isolated and that must be hard on someone from NYC.
I used to like the books by Helen & Scott Nearing--Living off the Land. In a lighter vein, I thought Tasha Tudor was amazing. Then, after she died, it came out that she was mean to her kids and they fought over her property. She didn't write her sweet little books for the kids, it was all for herself. Everything she did was for herself. That's what I've read anyway.
So I've become disillusioned with the city people go to live in the country books. But it's a genre that I WOULD love if they did it right. (Yikes, I hope I didn't spoil the book for you. Just ignore me if you want.)
Yes, I agree with you. There is a lot of this ego-driven drivel being passed off as noteworthy non-fiction. One that comes to mind is a book called, "An accidental country girl" or something like that (that title has been paraphrased to death) about a woman and her family who move to a farm/ranch in Virginia, and all the rubes they meet, how the wild hog chased her around the farm, and the time she fell in the mud and got her designer duds dirty, etc. And they're all invariably from the big city, and leaving their "high-powered, high-pressure" careers for the "simple life".
However, there is a pretty funny one, an early pioneer of the genre, by Jim Mullen and his experiences moving from NYC to Delhi, NY in the 1980's. It's called "It takes A Village Idiot" and he does a good job and has some hilarious anecdotes, and never takes himself too seriously.
Location: RI, MA, VT, WI, IL, CA, IN (that one sucked), KY
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Originally Posted by in_newengland
The person who went to live in Maine--at the end you find out that she had professional help building the cabin, she had a snowmobile to get her across the lake AND her boyfriend used to take her in his plane to the Caribbean or some warm place throughout the winter. So she wasn't the hero she made herself out to be. She spent a few weeks in the cabin off and on by herself so that was courageous. But that is all.
The Nantucket person had loads of money too, no hardship, no clue as to what real life was all about. She could afford trips to the mainland and the best in groceries, no hardship except that she was rather isolated and that must be hard on someone from NYC.
Ten years back, Christopher Wren wrote Walking to Vermont. He retires, leaves work in Manhattan and walks from his office in midtown to his retirement home in Vermont -- a 400 mile trek. I found it enjoyable as I knew some of the places in the beginning of the journey, and perhaps, wished I could follow in his footsteps. He doesn't set off to live in a yurt off the grid, or some other existence lacking in creature comforts, rather the story is him transitioning from career guy to retiree. Instead of observing the world for his employer, he is observing the environment around himself and allows it to affect him and his outlook.
So I've become disillusioned with the city people go to live in the country books. But it's a genre that I WOULD love if they did it right.
Based on what you're written (and I agree with you), you might like "Nothing Whatever To Do" by Elsie Masterton, about her and her husband's "adventures" (usually misadventures) trying to open Blueberry Hill ski resort in (I think) the 1950s, in Goshen.
Based on what you're written (and I agree with you), you might like "Nothing Whatever To Do" by Elsie Masterton, about her and her husband's "adventures" (usually misadventures) trying to open Blueberry Hill ski resort in (I think) the 1950s, in Goshen.
I'll look for it--thanks.
I may even try to book mentioned in the original post, Mud Season. Might give it a chance.
I reserved Mud Season from the library online. The county library system has 8 copies and 5 of them are out. I requested one of the ones available to be transferred to my local library. I should have it in a couple of days.
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