The Essential Earthman [Paperback]

Henry Mitchell (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: April 14, 1999

Although Mitchell offers invaluable tips for novices and seasoned gardeners, readers take particular delight in his opinionated observations--witty, urbane, and fascinating.

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com Review

This first collection of Henry Mitchell's garden columns was one of those instant classics, a book which quickly earned a permanent place on thousands of bedside tables. Though written for the Washington Post, these tales of the city garden travel well. This book, often dog-eared and battered, is found in gardeners' homes all across the U.S.--not just in the South, but in Minnesota, Alaska, and the other Washington. After reading a single page--any page--you'll realize why. Many gardeners quote Mitchell's line, "It is a great joy the day we discover that we can learn things without actually having to make the mistakes ourselves." He regales us with his mistakes, recording the frustration caused by stubbornly planting where his beloved dogs insisted on sleeping or by thoughtless activity ("I speared a superb lily bulb today"), hoping we will profit from his own gardening mishaps. We can and do, but we profit just as much by his company as his advice, which is so clearly the fruit of long and direct experience. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

From Booklist

With Henry Mitchell's recent death, gardeners lost one of the most erudite yet entertaining voices of horticultural wisdom. This agreeable iconoclast will no longer be around to tease and provoke his fans--those readers devoted to Mitchell's splendid gardening essays in the Washington Post. So his prevailing legacy will be books like this one, a new, slightly expanded edition of Mitchell's first collection of columns. In reading over these delectable gardening vignettes, the reader finds reasons for Mitchell's popularity unmistakable. Not only does he instruct readers with his expert advice, but in his own rather cantankerous way, he consistently provides a gentle, philosophical assist; a balm for the bumps and blows of daily life. Alice Joyce --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

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Product Details

• Paperback: 244 pages
• Publisher: Mariner Books; 1 edition (April 14, 1999)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0395957680
• ISBN-13: 978-0395957684
• Product Dimensions: 9.1 x 5.7 x 0.4 inches
• Shipping Weight: 8 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 4.9 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (8 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #3,069,837 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

20 of 20 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars please reprint this book!, June 17, 2000

By A Customer

This review is from: The Essential Earthman (Paperback)

I first read Henry Mitchell in the Washington Post when my husband was receiving cancer treatment at NIH in 1982, and when I realized that his columns were collected in The Essential Earthman I immediately bought a copy. I have subsequently owned (and loaned out and thus lost) two or three more copies. As each planting season arrives I remember how much I've missed reading Henry's wisdom, and I berate myself for having loaned out (and lost) those books. So for the sake of upcoming generations of gardeners (and the old hands among us), would someone please reprint this valuable book? It's a book to read in the depth of winter and the heat of summer, in a spacious country garden or a tiny city yard, for beginning gardeners and old timers with permanently-stained hands. There never has been anyone quite like Henry Mitchell on gardening, or on life, for that matter. Grouchy, opinionated, funny, informative, brutally honest--his words will never go out of style.

13 of 13 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars One of the 3 best American garden writers, June 8, 1997

By A Customer

This review is from: The Essential Earthman (Paperback)

As a gardener sufficiently serious about it to prefer catalogs without pictures, I commend Mr. Mitchell's essays to anyone -- seedling or mighty oak -- who loves to put their hands in dirt, and needs someone to lyrically explain why. My favorite essays include: dogs in the garden, why $ spent on garden plants are toted up differently than other money spent, and why, no matter how long you garden, you are never done until you are dead

12 of 13 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Worth a second try, April 24, 2003

By 

B. Ginder (Snohomish, WA United States) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: The Essential Earthman (Paperback)

I bought this book a few years ago based on the reviews. When I got it I tore into it and was sorely disappointed. That's the reason for 4 instead of 5 stars.

Why even 4 stars you ask? Well, about a month ago, for whatever reason, I picked it up again and now I LOVE IT!

Henry Mitchell is dry - like the soil under an oak. But he's terribly warm and fuzzy once you get to know him. I write a newsletter for my local garden club and have found quote after quote that I want to use for future issues. They're not la-dee-dah quotes that speak vaguely about the lovely joys of gardening. BLAH! Rather, they're jewels that point fingers at snobby gardeners and kill-joys who scold children for picking crocuses.

This is not a "pretty picture" book. It's sort of a how-to in an essay form. But more than that, it's great writing by a wonderful author on a topic I am crazy for.