'goat song'

a novelist named brad kessler wrote a book called 'birds in fall' recently, which i loved. so when i found out that he lived in vermont, raised goats and made cheese, i was intrigued. as a lover of goat cheese i felt i owed it to myself and all those goats to learn more about their lives.

'goat song - a seasonal life, a short history of herding, and the art of making cheese' is the long title of this short, charming book. some of the many topics that interest kessler are; the connection between herding and song; how our alphabet reflects our pastoral history; and how herding and poetry are connected. the spiritual and poetical aspects to herding are fascinating to him and he shares his considerable knowledge of literature, linguistics, social history, and economics, among other things, with the reader.

there are no recipes here. just lots about the complicated lives of goats (i learned way more about their sex lives than i ever wanted to know). we follow the author and his wife though his journal entries as they buy their first goats, learn to breed and milk them, and ultimately learn to make cheese. the goats are amazingly interesting creatures and this book provides some great insight into their role throughout human history. and they are darned cute, too.

Neato. I just requested this from the library based on your recommendation. Maybe we should start an LTH book club...

Pie Lady wrote:Neato. I just requested this from the library based on your recommendation. Maybe we should start an LTH book club...

i'm glad to know someone is interested. i dont know about a book club... i have more to read than i can handle (i'm usually close to my 30 book limit at the library), but please post your thoughts about the book when you're done, jenny. justjoan

We go down to Vermont all the time (including the upcoming weekend)--where does this guy and his goats live?

Geo

geo- i dont think kessler says exactly where he lives (i returned the book to the library today, so i can't doublecheck.) if it helps, he says that the only carthusian monastery in america sits on top of the mountain that looms over his acreage. does this tell you his location? i suspect he's not interested in strangers on his property, and so is deliberately vague.
if you happen to be in vermont on june 10, kessler will be speaking about the book in bennington. i got this info from amazon. justjoan

jj—tnx! That puts him in the Green Mtn. National Forest, in SW Vermont, near Arlington. A bit out of my baliwick, but it would be nice to try some of his chèvre!

Geo

geo- i dont think he sells his cheese, except to a few new york city restaurants. since he uses only unpasteurized milk, his fresh chevre is illegal to sell because of our really dumb federal rules. instead of enforcing sanitary conditions so the milk is clean and therefore the cheese made from the milk is safe (as they do all over europe), our government forces pasteurization which kills all the good bacteria in the milk. he sells some of his french style tommes to restaurants (they've been aged 2 months, which makes them legal for sale). but if you find some of his cheese in vermont , please post about it! thanks, justjoan

Pie Lady wrote: ... Maybe we should start an LTH book club...

I recall that there was an LTH book group. I had thought it was more recently active, but search results indicate it met several times a few years ago.

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edc