In this beautifully written and frequently funny memoir, Catherine Goldhammer, newly separated, along with her twelve-year-old daughter, starts life anew in a cottage by the sea, in a rustic town where live bait is sold from vending machines. Partly to please her daughter and partly for reasons not clear to her at the time, she begins this year of transition by purchasing six baby chickens?whose job, she comes to suspect, is to pull her and her daughter forward out of one life and into another. An unforgettable story filled with hope and grace, Still Life with Chickens shows how transcendent wisdom can be found in the most unlikely of places.
| ||||||||||||||||||
Book Description
Frequently Bought Together
Editorial Reviews
From Publishers Weekly
From her book's opening lines, Goldhammer admits to the many insecurities she faced during her year of transition—during which she gets a divorce, slides "about three tax brackets poorer," relocates to a tattered New England cottage and [...] raises her 12-year-old daughter, as well as half a dozen chicks—while cheekily setting herself apart from her competition in the memoir genre: "I did not have a year in Provence or a villa under the Tuscan sun. I did not have a farm in Africa." Goldhammer, a published poet, has an eye for life's mundane details, and these minutiae can grow tiresome ("We went through two mops, several sponges.... We broke one mop right in half"). But her recounting of her frustrations and her joys while remodeling the house and rearing the chickens is not only amusing but sometimes reads like a self-help manual, in which readers conclude that rolling up one's sleeves, getting busy and staying occupied with any strange new interest can successfully distract one from life's larger trials. As Goldhammer notes, "I had thought I was renovating a house. I didn't know that in the process I would also rebuild my life." (May)
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.
From Booklist
Goldhammer, newly single and several tax brackets poorer, finds a fixer-upper house she can afford on the peninsula bordered by Boston Harbor and the Atlantic Ocean. Its salt pond and its possibilities intrigued her, but it was never meant to be a farm--and her 12-year-old daughter hated it, hated her mother, and refused to move. When bribery was offered in the form of six baby chicks, this animal--loving child was won over. This wonderful, poetic chronicle of chickens and life changes will entrance the reader, as Goldhammer learns about chicken care while selling one house and buying and renovating another, learns how to work with tools as she becomes proficient in building chicken coops, and in the process learns how to rebuild her life. Beautiful. Nancy Bent
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.
Product Details
Would you like to update product info or give feedback on images? |
More About the Author
Discover books, learn about writers, read author blogs, and more.
Customer Reviews
Most Helpful Customer Reviews
24 of 27 people found the following review helpful
Format:Hardcover|Amazon Verified Purchase
Divorce happens every day. Families split up, someone leaves the house, and each individual tries to create a new life. What makes Catherine Goldhammer's experience unique is the addition of - believe it or not - CHICKENS. Buying six fluffy chicks and having her teenage daughter learn how to raise them disrupts the household enough that it helps to bridge the transition between the old, comfortable life and the new, unsure one in a fixer-upper along the Massachusetts coastline. Sharing a suburban residence with a dog, a cat, and six chicks who don't stay little for long makes for an interesting and hectic lifestyle. Catherine and Emma's daily routine soon revolves around the feathered ones. Goldhammer tells her story with the candor and humor of hindsight, and it makes for quick and entertaining reading. Most of us have never thought of poultry as possible pets. After finishing "Still Life," readers may find themselves opting for veggie platters over chicken dinners in restaurants.
16 of 17 people found the following review helpful
By Number Nine
Format:Hardcover
Chickens! Who would have guessed? An amazingly delightful little book! I was captured on page one and couldn't put it down until I was finished. I came across Still Life with Chickens purely by accident - it was a gift for my mother, who simply adored it and suggested that I give it a read. Judging by the description (a newly single woman, starting over, etc.), I thought this book would resonate mostly with women. But I couldn't have been more wrong, as Catherine Goldhammer's style and humor easily bridges both genders. I truly loved this book, and I can't wait to see what Ms. Goldhammer offers us next! It's that good.
28 of 33 people found the following review helpful
4.0 out of 5 stars
A divorce and starting over memoir for those whose finances become tighter....
April 16, 2006
Format:Hardcover|Amazon Verified Purchase
This isn't written from the perspective of a woman who has lots of money and decides to leave her husband and start over, with at least a modicum of strong financial support.
Instead, This is a nitty gritty book that should appeal to the rest of us. It is about the realities of being a divorced mom with a pre-teen daughter (age 12) and severely stressed finances.
I love the author's writing style, her ability to observe both the large and small events in her life in fine detail. By the way, the title isn't just catchy but relates to the very real chickens owned by the mother and her daughter. I'll never look at a chicken in quite the same way, not after reading her descriptions of them. It takes a special perspective to find inspiration in a chicken, but find it she does.
But the chickens are only a part of this book. Mostly it is an account of starting over while being in shakey circumstances, in a house that needs plenty of work, without extra money and with a preteen to care for. In the process, a new identity and place in the world is discovered.
Instead, This is a nitty gritty book that should appeal to the rest of us. It is about the realities of being a divorced mom with a pre-teen daughter (age 12) and severely stressed finances.
I love the author's writing style, her ability to observe both the large and small events in her life in fine detail. By the way, the title isn't just catchy but relates to the very real chickens owned by the mother and her daughter. I'll never look at a chicken in quite the same way, not after reading her descriptions of them. It takes a special perspective to find inspiration in a chicken, but find it she does.
But the chickens are only a part of this book. Mostly it is an account of starting over while being in shakey circumstances, in a house that needs plenty of work, without extra money and with a preteen to care for. In the process, a new identity and place in the world is discovered.
Most Recent Customer Reviews
4.0 out of 5 stars
Chick Lit
I bought the book because I have chickens but I really enjoyed reading about the author's divorce and starting over.
Published 4 months ago by barbara jacksier
3.0 out of 5 stars
Thank goodness for chickens
This is a quiet book, do not expect excitement or revelations. The author is lucky enough to have an amicable divorce and, while left "poor" enough to have to sell off her big... Read more
Published on April 10, 2011 by Linda Austin - MoonbridgeBooks
3.0 out of 5 stars
light reading
My book group agrees, this was pretty light. If you're looking for an easy read after a more intense book, this is fine. Read more
Published on February 28, 2011 by D. Nitchie
4.0 out of 5 stars
Chickens were instructive
This book is absolutely charming and heart-warming. Transformation is always such a challenge. The main character goes through her life changes with grace and more than a little... Read more
Published on November 29, 2010 by Gabster
4.0 out of 5 stars
Loved this story!
Great story, I loved the book from start to finish and appreciated the story line - the chickens end up being a reason for the author and her daughter to keep on living life, after... Read more
Published on October 27, 2009 by L. C. Lewis
5.0 out of 5 stars
This is a great book and would make a wonderful chick flick!
Catherine Goldhammer spoke for an hour at the library of one of the South Shore towns that may have been where the author taught briefly. Read more
Published on October 18, 2009 by euonymous
2.0 out of 5 stars
Is There Still Life with Chickens???
I very much wanted to like this book. I live on the South Shore in MA, and knew of all the places about which the author wrote. Read more
Published on August 13, 2009 by Barbara Dingwall Mills
5.0 out of 5 stars
Great book for those who know and love chickens
This slim volume tells the story of adjusting to life as a newly-single mother, with the aid of 6 chickens. Read more
Published on July 16, 2009 by Elizabeth Ray
5.0 out of 5 stars
Brave and funny
I loved this book the minute I saw that wonderful cover. Fortunately, the inside did not disappoint. Read more
Published on December 17, 2008 by J. R. Rodman
5.0 out of 5 stars
A must for the back yard flock owner. Or someone thinking about it
I read about this book on a online community for back yard chicken owners(Shout out to ya all!!!) It was written by a member that I havent met.
And it is so well written. Read more
And it is so well written. Read more
Published on October 3, 2008 by Martha C. Pulrang
Citations (learn more)
What Other Items Do Customers Buy After Viewing This Item?
Sell a Digital Version of This Book in the Kindle Store
If you are a publisher or author and hold the digital rights to a book, you can sell a digital version of it in our Kindle Store.
Learn more
