Making Hay [Paperback]

Verlyn Klinkenborg (Author), Gordon Allen (Illustrator)

Book Description

Publication Date: June 1, 2003

From the wonders of alfalfa, the "miracle plant," to barbed wire, dances at VFW halls, and the myriad difficulties of operating tractors and siderakes, renowned author Verlyn Klinkenborg paints a stunning and memorable portrait of American family farms and the fascinating characters who work them.
MAKING HAY gives us an unforgettable glimpse of everyday life on the family farms of northwestern Iowa, southwestern Minnesota, and Montana's Big Hole Valley. In beautiful, deceptively simple prose touched with humor and affection, Klinkenborg evokes a way of life at risk, and weaves an unforgettable story of the richness of rural living.

Editorial Reviews

Review

"A marvelous picture of rural life and of families at work. This is a fascinating excursion into American farmland."
--Publishers Weekly

From the Back Cover

From the wonders of alfalfa, the "miracle plant," to barbed wire and the myriad difficulties of operating tractors and siderakes, renowned author Verlyn Klinkenborg paints a stunning and memorable portrait of life on American family farms.
Making Hay gives an unforgettable glimpse of everyday life on the farms of Iowa, Minnesota, and Montana. In beautiful, deceptively simple prose touched with humor and affection, Klinkenborg evokes a way of life at risk, and weaves a marvelous story of the richness of rural living.

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Paperback: 176 pages
• Publisher: The Lyons Press; 1st edition (June 1, 2003)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1585747262
• ISBN-13: 978-1585747269
• Product Dimensions: 8.4 x 5.5 x 0.5 inches
• Shipping Weight: 7.8 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 4.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (4 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #784,366 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

14 of 14 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Haymaker a knockout, October 3, 1997

By A Customer

This review is from: Making Hay (Paperback)

Klinkenborg knows this topic is off the beaten track. No puns, metaphors or euphemisms intended, it is literally a book about the production of hay in the vast fields of Minnesota and Iowa. His fascination perplexes no one more than the author's relatives, who make a living at it and observe his enthusiasm for the work with benign bemusement. Of course in the process of learning the family trade, Klinkenborg learns something about his own heritage, but he presents this as mere incidental observations, like an old friend waved to at the end of a row just before turning the combine around to get back to business. The writing is superb. I'd give it a 10, but he does tend to go a tad overboard with loving descriptions of the machinery.

14 of 16 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Nice, But No John McPhee, October 15, 1999

By 

David Lewis (Virginia) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Making Hay (Paperback)

The jacket blurb compares this book to McPhee's "The Survival of the Bark Canoe." While Klinkenborg tries manfully to achieve something like McPhee, he doesn't make it. He comes close at times, but only close and that not often enough.

From Klinkenborg I got only glimpses of the places and people living a life I know next to nothing about. He took me to the edge of the field, but not up close enough to understand what they are doing and why. A few times he describes machinery or processes well enough for me to see them, but most of the time he drops names with only the barest description, leaving me in the middle of nowhere. In contrast, when I finish one of McPhee's many books, I feel like I could BUILD the canoe, pick the oranges, or pilot the ship.

Klinkenborg does better with the people in the story, many of them family of his, and those parts were fine. But the heart of the story is in its title, and I was left wanting much more than I received.

9 of 11 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars All things considered I enjoyed it ..., November 12, 2006

By 

Lisa (KS United States) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Making Hay (Paperback)

As a suburban housewife with no experience and little interest in hay, I enjoyed it and would recommend it with some reservations. I spent a fair amount of time googling the terms/machinery (windrow, buckrake etc.). If you're curious about haymaking and/or curious about whatever Mr. Klinkenborg's curious about (that's why I read it), then what the hay! It was pretty good and I learned about hay.