Shatter Me With Dawn: A Celebration of Country Life

Rating:
Summary: Horses, Cows, and Other People
Review: This is a fine collection of moving and often funny essays growing out of the author's trials and triumphs on a farm in the hills east of Atlanta, Georgia. More than the usual "back to the earth" escapade, author Russell created a working, livable farm out of some lovely wooded acreage and an old farmhouse that she had moved onto the property. The story of that move, with its encounters with narrow bridges, tree limbs, and school children dismissed from class to watch the spectacle, is typical of the book's essays: a wonderful eye for detail, and a humorous but respectful feel for the people who inhabited this adventure. Best moments include her discovery of the differences between cows and horses--a fall-down funny episode--and her depictions of the creatures (including people, of course) and the natural scene of her beloved corner of rural Georgia. It is no "stretch" to compare her writing with that of Thoreau.

Rating:
Summary: Horses, Cows, and Other People
Review: This is a fine collection of moving and often funny essays growing out of the author's trials and triumphs on a farm in the hills east of Atlanta, Georgia. More than the usual "back to the earth" escapade, author Russell created a working, livable farm out of some lovely wooded acreage and an old farmhouse that she had moved onto the property. The story of that move, with its encounters with narrow bridges, tree limbs, and school children dismissed from class to watch the spectacle, is typical of the book's essays: a wonderful eye for detail, and a humorous but respectful feel for the people who inhabited this adventure. Best moments include her discovery of the differences between cows and horses--a fall-down funny episode--and her depictions of the creatures (including people, of course) and the natural scene of her beloved corner of rural Georgia. It is no "stretch" to compare her writing with that of Thoreau.