Wisdom of the Last Farmer - by David Mas Masumoto (Paperback)

About the Book

In this memoir, the author finds the natural connections between generation and succession, fathers and children, booms and declines as he tells the story of his family and their farm. He sees the price the family has paid to grow complex heirloom peaches--when the market rewards tasteless, big, and red fruits--and the challenges of maintaining traditions and integrity while working in the modern, high-pressure agricultural marketplace. As his father's health declines along with the profitability of the family farm, the author moves beyond economic concerns to questions of life, death, and renewal.

Book Synopsis

David Mas Masumoto works a family farm, growing organic peaches, nectarines, and grapes. When Masumoto's father has a stroke on the fields of their eighty-acre farm, Masumoto confronts life's big questions: What do his and his father's lives mean? What have they lived and worked for? "A fiercely tender book" (Deborah Madison), Wisdom of the Last Farmer "tells the most fascinating kind of story, reminding us that, at its best and most authentic, organic farming requires not only soul, but intimate knowledge of place, a deep grasp of subjects ranging from plant physiology to tractor repair, and unrelenting physical labor" (onEarth magazine). In the harvest of his father's wisdom, and his own, gathered from a lifetime of farming and surviving, Mas finds the natural connections between generation and succession and life, death, and renewal. He tells how to tend and make things grow, and how to know when to let nature take over, weaving together stories of life and death to reveal age-old wisdom in what the The Oregonian called a "sweet taste of farming, family, loyalty, and dignity." With insights full of beautiful, lyrical descriptions on how to nurture both the tangible and intangible, Masumoto's quiet eloquence reveals how our own destinies are involved in the future of our food, the land, and the farm.

Review Quotes

"Wisdom of the Last Farmer is a fiercely tender book; it could forever change how you regard a parent and the way you eat a peach...[and] puts food and farming into a rugged perspective that both humbles and inspires." -- DEBORAH MADISON, author of What We Eat When We Eat Alone and Local Flavors

"A graceful meditation on the work of growing food and its meaning across generations. A peach of a book... worthy of placement alongside the best of Wendell Berry, Liberty Hyde Bailey and other literary farmers."
--Kirkus

"An eloquent and moving memoir...a coming-of-age story for adults as well as a generous appreciation of the personal value of farming to farmers and its overall value to society. Masumoto's love for his family, their land, and the fruit they produce shines through every chapter." -- MARION NESTLE, Ph.D., author of What to Eat

"Masumoto passionately engages every fiber of his being in both his work and his writing, bringing the land to life for his readers....A philosopher in coveralls and work boots....Read slowly and savor."
--Booklist

"The only voice from within farming that sings of both its pleasures and its pains, Mas Masumoto's words are so deeply rooted in his farmwork that they sweat, sting, and shine all at the same time. America's most articulate orchard-keeper, its most earthy writer, Mas eloquently captures the everyday beauty, heartbreak, and moral complexity of a multigenerational family intent on 'bearing fruit' despite insurmountable odds." -- GARY PAUL NABHAN, author of Renewing America's Food Traditions

About the Author

David Mas Masumoto is the award-winning author of Epitaph for a Peach and other books, popular columnist, spokesperson for organic farming, and a fellow at The Kellogg Foundation. A third-generation farmer, he grows certified organic peaches, nectarines, and grapes on his family's eighty-acre California farm. He lives in Del Ray, California.