Dino, Godzilla, and the Pigs: My Life on Our Missouri Hog Farm [Hardcover]

Mary Elizabeth Fricke (Author), Mary Beth Meehan (Photographer)

Book Description

Publication Date: October 1993

Provides a woman's-eye view of the real world of a family farm in the Missouri heartland, discussing the never-ending world of crops, livestock, seasonal work, the lack of operating funds, and the land.

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

In a postscript written from Hermann (pop. 3000) in flooded Missouri, Fricke tells readers that she and her husband Dennis lost their cash crops, but that their home, equipment, pigs and "a little corn" survived. When she married a farmer, the author, a widow with a six-year-old son, Jack, had some acquaintance with working the land, but only with the farm crisis in 1986 did she join her husband in the fields. Sowing crops, tending 1500 hogs, learning to drive massive combines and tractors (taking care to wear sunscreen and moisturizers), and participating in a round of community and familial events are happenings depicted in this charming, well-crafted account of a way of life. The memoir introduces an attractive woman who copes with personal tragedies and natural disasters with buoyancy, a sense of humor and a deep commitment to a quintessentially rural lifestyle. Photos.
Copyright 1993 Reed Business Information, Inc.

From Library Journal

After she was widowed, Fricke married a Missouri hog farmer. While family farms traditionally draw a distinction between men's and women's work, she assumed the hired man's tasks when he quit. Despite initial reluctance, she learned to drive the giant tractors (Dino and Godzilla) and handle hogs. This unromanticized account of farm life points out the dangers of modern farming (machinery, chemicals) and the high stress caused by long, hard work days and the inability to control the weather. Fricke notes how the beauty of the countryside is counterpoised with noxious smells and loud noises. Her home is heated solely by wood, but she uses satellite home computer connections to track crop prices. While Fricke describes her farm in greater detail than many readers would want, her book is still an excellent firsthand account of late 20th-century farm life. For a broader overview of farming past and present, Nora Janssen Seton's The Road to My Farm ( LJ 8/93) is a better choice.
- Cheryl Childress, Collegiate Sch. , Richmond, Va.
Copyright 1993 Reed Business Information, Inc.

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Product Details

• Hardcover: 185 pages
• Publisher: Soho Press; First Edition edition (October 1993)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0939149966
• ISBN-13: 978-0939149964
• Product Dimensions: 7.9 x 5.5 x 0.9 inches
• Shipping Weight: 12.8 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 4.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (1 customer review)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #4,105,032 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Most Helpful Customer Reviews

1 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars I've been there..., January 2, 2001

By 

"oakbookbuyer" (Columbia, MO USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Dino, Godzilla, and the Pigs: My Life on Our Missouri Hog Farm (Hardcover)

This straightforward book offers realistic insight into the hard work of farm life.

Fricke's sensitive descriptions of MidMissouri countryside are reminiscent for me. A city girl, I taught a year in a one-room rural school just across the river from the setting of the book. Much later, my husband, once a farm boy from the same county, became an ag professor at the University of Missouri-Columbia. He initiated a series of Feminine Farrowing Schools. In brief sessions, ag instructors trained women to work with piglets as the author had to learn on her own -- enduring plenty of criticism from her demanding husband.