Animal, Vegetable, Miracle

Animal, Vegetable, Miracle by Barbara Kingsolver

This book was probably written specifically to send my father into cardiac arrest--it's THAT LIBERAL. And what's worse (or maybe just deliciously ironic), it's all about being liberal while you eat, my favorite thing. And I loved it. :)

Not only is Kingsolver's writing the sort that makes me pause to giggle and think, "Did she really just say that?", I found her exploration into the food industry profoundly personal. How many people can crusade for local, organic, chemical/pesticide/antibiotic-free food without being completely soapboxish? Not too many. But somehow, it's all woven in like a perfectly latticed cherry pie (forgive me), and I found myself nodding along, even making up reasons to get out of the pool on my honeymoon in Costa Rica to read more about pasture-finished heirloom turkeys. Clearly, it's a good read.

And on another note, I'm so sick of reading the exact same article about buying organic berries and bell peppers in every SINGLE edition of anything I pick up, this was refreshingly crisp. Like an organic pepper, maybe. But I suppose the trendy wave of locavore writing might have been spurred on by this little (big) book in the first place.

My favorite part about Animal, Vegetable, Miracle? You'd probably think it was the mouth-watering recipes daughter Camille Kingsolver contributes throughout, and although every single one is permanently dog-eared, it's actually the way the main author serves up that one genre in Creative Writing classes I could never quick get the hang of: literary journalism. This is it, Animal, Vegetable, Memoir.