Goat Song - by Brad Kessler (Paperback)

About the Book

In his transformation from staunch urbanite to countrified goat farmer, Kessler explores the rustic roots of many aspects of Western culture, and how diet, alphabet, religions, and economy all grew out of a pastoral setting.

Book Synopsis

Goat Song is the story of a year in the life of a couple who abandoned their one-bedroom apartment in New York City to live on seventy-five acres in Vermont and raise Nubian goats. In poetic, reverent detail, Brad Kessler explores our ancient relationship to the land and our gradual alienation from the animals that feed us. His fascinating account traces his journey of choosing the goats and learning how to breed, milk, and care for them. As Kessler begins to live the life of a herder, he encounters the pastoral roots of so many aspects of Western culture--how our diet, our alphabet, our religions, poetry, and economy all grew out of a pastoralist setting, a life lived among hoofed animals.

Review Quotes

"Goat Song offers a meditation on the pastoral life...that will make an urbanite regret having missed the experience."-- The Wall Street Journal

"A multi-layered, smart, erudite, and incredibly well written book."--Christian Science Monitor

"The writing is so beautiful you want to reread sentences to savor it."--San Francisco Chronicle

"A wonderous little miracle of a book."--Tom Ashbrook, National Public Radio