Fields Without Dreams : Defending the Agrarian Ideal [Paperback]

Victor Davis Hanson (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: March 25, 1997

Eulogizing the vanishing lifestyle of the family farm, Victor Hanson calls for America to take notice of its lost simplicity and purity before it is too late. "Victor Davis Hanson . . . is a writer as much as a farmer. His memoir is complex--passionate, angry, honest, scorching".--Jane Smiley, "The New Yorker".

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com Review

Classicist, professor, and farmer Hanson chronicles the decline of small-scale agriculture in the Central Valley of California. He takes his classics seriously, likening the raisin farmers of Modesto to Aeschylus' ideal virtuous man, who "did not wish to seem just, but to be so." He takes modern cultural dictates less seriously: "Is it not odd," he writes, "to rise at dawn with Japanese-, Mexican-, Pakistani-, Armenian-, and Portuguese-American farmers and then be lectured at noonday 40 miles away on campus about cultural sensitivity and the need for 'diversity' by the affluent white denizens of an exclusive, tree-studded suburb?" Hanson relates the life stories of his farmer neighbors, writing that their way of life will likely soon disappear, thanks in part to a federal system of agricultural subsidies that favors large-scale, industrial farm corporations over individual "yeomen." This is a sobering and eye-opening book.

From Publishers Weekly

We are in the penultimate stage of the death of agrarianism, says the author, a fifth-generation vine and fruit grower. Hanson (The Other Greeks) has written an eloquent and bitter elegy for the American family farm. For more than a century, his family has grown grapes (for raisins) and plums in California's San Joaquin Valley. In 1983, the raisin market crashed, marking the start of an ongoing agricultural depression. Hanson relates here the grim story of his and his neighbors' experiences. He is deeply concerned about the cultural and historical ramifications of eliminating the family farm, reminding us that the origins of Western civilization and democracy arose from a vibrant agrarianism. He charges that the American people no longer care how they get their food, as long as it is fresh, firm and cheap. To stem the decline of the family farm, the author calls for regulation of commodity brokerages, property and irrigation taxes based on size and presence of owners and elimination of the U.S. Department of Agriculture.
Copyright 1996 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

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Product Details

• Paperback: 320 pages
• Publisher: Free Press (March 25, 1997)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0684835703
• ISBN-13: 978-0684835709
• Product Dimensions: 8.7 x 5.7 x 0.8 inches
• Shipping Weight: 14.4 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.1 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (10 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #291,199 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Victor Davis Hanson is Professor of Greek and Director of the Classics Program at California State University, Fresno. He is the author or editor of many books, including Who Killed Homer? The Demise of Classical Education and the Recovery of Greek Wisdom (with John Heath, Free Press, 1998), and The Soul of Battle (Free Press, 1999). In 1992 he was named the most outstanding undergraduate teacher of classics in the nation.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

51 of 51 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Fields Without Dreams, March 21, 2004

By 

Alison Burke (Herndon VA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Fields Without Dreams : Defending the Agrarian Ideal (Paperback)

I must respond, although a bit late, to the review posted in Dec. '99 by "a reader": "As we read this book it became clear that Professor Hansen's uniformly negative opinions of the people who now support themselves as professional farmers are truly clouded by his amateur status as a farmer. The sad thing is that he does not see that himself. In case you are wondering, his profession is, after all, that of College professor."

Clearly the "reader" did not read Mr. Hanson's book carefully enough. As a nearby resident of his town of Selma, I can attest to Mr. Hanson's personal and family legacy of professional farming. He is by no means "an amateur farmer." Instead, he has worked on his family farm more than full time since his pre-teens, and supported his family doing so.

The difficulties Hanson encountered as a farmer were common to the ventures of his particular crops. In addition, his acceptance of a university position at Cal. State Fresno was mainly a way to keep food on the table after the raisin crash. I wish this reviewer had read the book more carefully before tossing out major criticisms.

As an outsider to farming, although my uncle is a cattle farmer in Wisconsin, I developed a passionate respect for farming after reading Fields Without Dreams. Hanson's overriding point, I think, is to emphasize the character and toughness required of farmers in any age. His book is particularly timely because, as he notes, "Family farmers are noble, but vanishing stewards of ancient ground."

Hanson also makes an important statement about farming--that its myth of simplicity and quaintness is unfounded. While capitalism overtakes the family farm in favor of agribusiness, just like it has many other American businesses, what is disappearing along with the family farm is an honorable society we'll never see again. I am glad Hanson is around to capture this moment for us.

10 of 10 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars two worlds, one person, June 17, 2004

By 

Samuel L. Baldwin (kingsport, tn United States) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Fields Without Dreams : Defending the Agrarian Ideal (Paperback)

Hanson is one of the rare people that can live in two distinct worlds and have the vision to see the difference. Fortunately for all the rest of us, he also has the ability to allow us all to see his two worlds. To me, many that read this book need to read it closer, for the book contains much more than casual reading can reveal. This book tells real life stories of real life people and the many interactions that take place between these people, that will ultimately shape everyones future. I did my best to try and say how I feel about this book. Read this book yourself and enjoy.

8 of 9 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Brilliant, engaging, impressive., October 23, 2000

By 

"lwandapang" (USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Fields Without Dreams : Defending the Agrarian Ideal (Paperback)

A wonderful read. Hanson sweeps the reader up into the the high stakes game, the espirt d'corps of the family farm, the teeter-totter hazards of weather and market demands, the changing fortunes of agrarian culture. A magnificent achievement. One of my favorite books of the last decade.