The Dirty Life – Ever Wanted to Ditch the City and Farm?

I spent a lot of time in airplanes this fall, and after tiring of the music on my iPod or the work documents I brought along for review, I would page through the inflight magazines.  One of those magazines – was it US Airways or Delta? – piqued my interest with an excerpt from Kristin Kimball’s new book, The Dirty Life.

Sitting on an airplane (or in an office, or on the bus) I’ve often daydreamed about working on a farm for a season.  So far, my balcony garden has kept the desire at bay, but it’s always there.  Before I went back to graduate school, I even spent a good number of lunch hours Googling “farming internships.”  While I may sit around dreaming, Kristin Kimball is the real deal – she took her curiousity a step further by seeking out – then committing to – a life of farming.  Her book, The Dirty Life, chronicles the experience. 

In a bit of irony, I found myself in an airport bookstore, hurriedly looking for a Christmas gift for a friend, when the cover of the book called out to me in the sea of new releases.  I remembered enjoying the excerpt in the flight magazine, and purchased it for her on the spot.  Long story short, I ended up delicately reading it on the flight to and from Florida, prior to giving it to her at Christmas.  (I confessed to this shortly after she opened it, claiming “now we can discuss it!”)

After finishing the book, I have mixed feelings.  While the story of how she found “farming, food, and love” was generally well balanced, I could have done without as much on the romance front.  It was a nice love story, but I couldn’t help but feel that some of the long-winded descriptions of the wedding planning were merely setting the stage for the movie adaptation.   Where Kimball really shines, however, is her raw, honest description of how difficult it is to start a farm from scratch – I felt her exhaustion as she described the routine of early morning milking through late evening harvests. 

Truth be told, I wanted to dislike Kristin – especially after the picture she paints of her hipster lifestyle in a rent controlled apartment in pre-9/11 New York City, but by the end of the book I at least understood her desire to escape the city and try her hand at farming, and even if I don’t think we’d be best friends, I was rooting for her farm to succeed.  In acknowledging her own prejudice that farm work was somehow “below” her Harvard education, she became more human (read: obnoxious) to me, and by leaving behind her life as a journalist in NYC, she displays a courage (read: craziness) that I admire.

If you’re looking for a memoir about the trials and tribulations of starting a farm and insights into its operation, this may not be the book for you – but if you’re looking for a light, well-written memoir, this one deserves a look.  Wait for it in paperback though!

NPR did an audio slideshow with Kristin Kimball here.  As one of the commenters noted, “The words (of the story and her book) say dirt, the images say Ralph Lauren.”   If such a contradiction annoys you, you’ll probably want to stay away from the book.

Tags: farming
Posted in Reading List, Reviews