Linda in Washington! Congratulations, Linda - if you will email me with your mailing address (becky.lane(at)vownet.net) I will get your book in the mail. And to all my other readers who entered, don't feel blue, you'll have another chance to win in just a few weeks. Be sure and drop by Linda's own wonderful blog (http://myownvelvetroom.blogspot.com/) to congratulate her.
The book that Linda won is one of my all time favorites (as is every book I'm giving away, come to think of it), A Reasonable Life: Toward A Simpler, Secure, More Humane Existence, by Ferenc Mate'. Though it was written back in the early 90's, it couldn't be more timely now, and speaks to all the problems that are keeping many of us awake at night. He speaks of how things used to be, how they have become, and how they could be, in a "reasonable" world. He speaks of the things that matter to us most: the American Dream, the true cost of a thing, Sundays, home, the home garden, the myth of the steady job, humane corporations, our devastated agriculture, true security in the country, unlivable cities, humane small towns, the death of the individual (mechanical lovers, electronic friends), losing our children, the self-helpless society, television, a government of the $ by the $ and for the $, and he speaks of reasonable lives and a reasonable future. Best of all, he does it with great good humor and common sense. A special bonus is an appendix on "A Reasonable Garden", by natural gardening gurus Eliot Coleman and Barbara Damrosch.
Even if you did not win this month, I highly recommend that you try to snag a copy of this book for yourself, along with any other by this author. He and his wife Candace, an artist, roamed the world for many years, but ended up settling on Tuscany as the best place to start a family and lead a reasonable life. There he wrote The Hills of Tuscany, which came out in '98, and later one called A Vineyard in Tuscany (I think that's the title, I loaned my copy out) which just came out not long ago. If you liked Under the Tuscan Sun, you will love both of these. Happy reading!
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4 comments:
This book sounds interesting... I just reserved it at our library!
Sounds like a great read. I like that he talks of things like "Sundays" and "home." Makes me think of the days of the Blue Laws when stores, gas stations, everything was closed on Sundays, and the highlight of the day was the family dinner. Thanks for the recommendation.
Joanne, Teri - hope you enjoy it even half as much as I did. He uses fairly colorful language at times (mostly the word "bloody" - can you tell he wasn't born here?), but he certainly knows how to get a point across.
This sounds like a very interesting read. Thank you so much - I can't wait to get it and start reading.
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