Customer Reviews

Brush Cat: On Trees, the Wood Economy, and the Most Dangerous Job in America

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This book gives an interesting overview of many critical issues facing the logging industry. I found the book most engrossing in the first few chapters that dealt more with the actual life of real loggers. As the book went on, however, the author seemed to lose focus and go on tangents aimed more at filling space than keeping up with the original theme. While there is something to be said for the casual, humorous style of the author, I also found it somewhat symbolic of a lack of discipline in the writing of this book including many redundancies and even a number of typo's. I do recommend this book for folks who are interested in logging and related environment concerns, but I personally was looking for a book that stayed more focused on the logger.

'Brush Cat' takes us into the wilds of the Northern Forest on a quest for great trees with the Brush Cats... noble woodcutters and perservers of the forest! McEnany gives great insights into how the Brush Cats actually make the Northern Forests healthier (us too), as opposed to those who clear cut miles of wilderness. McEnany uses rapier wit in relating his personal experiences with Bob (A Brush Cat), and how truly amazing these brave men are... and how they are a dissapearing breed!
I look forward to Jack's next book!

Being a lifelong city dweller I really never gave the subject of logging a whole lot of thought. So long as I had access to an inexpensive and abundant supply of computer paper, lumber, printed matter and toilet tissue it seemed that there was no overriding reason for me to give the subject a second thought. Jack McEnany resides in New Hampshire. Although not a logger himself Jack has lived and worked with loggers for nearly two decades. He has experienced first-hand the hazards that these hardy and brave souls face each and every day they are at work out in the woods. Meanwhile, Jack McEnany also has a firm grasp on the economics of this industry. Jack figured that it might be useful to write a book about logging and loggers so that clueless folks like me would come to appreciate the difficulty of the job that they do and just how important wood is to our economic well-being. "Brush Cat: On Trees, The Wood Economy, and the Most Dangerous Job In America" presents a fine overview of the industry and those who work at it for a living. I found it to be a real eye-opener!

Perhaps the one statistic that jumped out at me more than any other in "Brush Cat" is the amount of paper each of us consumes in a single year. According to McEnaney "Every year Americans use more than 90 million tons of paper and paperboard. That's an average of 700 pounds of paper products per person per year! Every year more than 2 billion books, 350 milion magazines and 24 billion newspapers are published." Imagine what would happen to our nation if we had to confront a serious shortage of forest-industry products? McEnany points out that our domestic logging industry has been quite adversely affected by trade agreements like NAFTA and the Central American Free Trade Agreement. Furthermore, slight increases in average temperatures in our Great Northern Woods has significantly reduced the total number of days suitable for logging each year and in the long term threatens the viability of valuable hardwoods like sugar maple trees. The fact is that it is becoming increasingly difficult for loggers to eke out a living in this country. McEnaney also enumerates the many safety concerns that make this occupation one of the most dangerous in the world. "Brush Cut" also explores important land-use issues currently being debated around the country and speculates how new technologies like wood-burning cogeneration plants may revive the sagging fortunes of logging interests in the United States. Finally, Jack McEnany gets us all up to speed on some of the logging lexicon that found its way into everyday usage in the English language. Learn the origins of terms like "skid row", "log jam", "windfall", "heads up", "haywire" and even "peckerhead". Very interesting and a lot of fun!

At the end of the day I greatly appreciated and thoroughly enjoyed "Brush Cat: On Trees, The Wood Economy, and the Most Dangerous Job In America". Jack McEnany turns out to be a very fine writer. I learned an awful lot in this book and I like that. Highly recommended!

Quite the entertaining and enlightening book. Akin to the various logging shows currently on television, the book not only informs you of the work necessary to actually cut trees in New England but also deals with the various economic, social and political pressures involved in what appears to be just a simple mechanical operation. The writing style is engaging, reminding me somewhat of the approach that Mike Rowe takes on his television show, Dirty Jobs.

A delightful book that owes more to Izaak Walton than to John McPhee, though it deserves comparison with McPhee as well. McEnany gives a compelling sense of an upstate New Hampshire culture that is as remote and unknown as the more typically romantic American West. Most interesting of all is the author's distinctive and winning prose. He's a real writer.

Great Read!! Smart, informed, thoughtful, and fun.
This is more than a book about logging - you'll love it.

Shipped fast and came in excellent condition - very interesting book as well. Thank you!!!!!!!!