Weeds in Bloom: Autobiography of an Ordinary Man [Mass Market Paperback]

Robert Newton Peck (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: January 9, 2007

With over 60 books published, including the breathtaking A Day No Pigs Would Die, Robert Newton Peck has had an illustrious writing career. Now, in an autobiography as unique as he is, Peck tells his story by writing about the people who have meant the most to him throughout his life. From his roots as a poor Vermont farmer's son to his years as a soldier in World War II, from his term slogging away in a paper mill to his semi-retirement in Florida, Peck shows us people most never see—the desperately poor, the hopelessly uneducated. People Rob considers "weeds in bloom."

Editorial Reviews

From School Library Journal

Grade 9 Up–A veteran author creates his autobiography in an atypical fashion, by spotlighting people (and a few dogs) who have had an impact on his life. Thus he provides readers with a series of essays or character sketches in which he plays a supporting role. Some of the players in the first of three sections, "Vermont Boyhood," will ring bells with fans of Peck's "Soup" stories (Random). In "Early Manhood," he looks into his time in the army and his work experiences, including stints in a paper mill and in advertising. "Florida Years" features interesting personalities–an old man living in a shack in the woods with his dog, a waitress at a small diner, Jamaicans in the sugar-cane fields of Florida. These are folks to whom life has often been less than generous, but Peck has found in them wisdom, tenacity, and tenderness. The final chapter, "Just As I Am," is a compilation of Peck's words to live by. There is humor, as one might expect, and a good deal of near-heartbreaking pain, along with a dollop of hokum here and there. Because Peck has not written of his life as a writer, these essays are as likely to appeal to readers who have never heard of him. Perhaps they are more likely to appeal to adults than to teen readers who may not yet have lived long enough to see the strength required to live an "ordinary life."–Coop Renner, Hillside Elementary, El Paso, TX
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

Gr. 8-11. Peck's exquisite autobiographical novel A Day No Pigs Would Die (1972) is a classic, though its sequel and many of the author's other books were far less successful. Now in his 70s, Peck uses a series of essays to look back on his childhood and coming-of-age in rural Vermont, and then at his semiretirement in Florida. The nostalgia is often heavy, and Peck's audience is more likely to be elderly adults than teens--though even grown-ups may tire of his message: the farm boy is not into "literature" or things "fancy or fine"; "nothing uppity" for Peck. There are a few great selections though, mostly spare, hard accounts about work--laboring in the paper mill, in the sawmill, and as a sugarcane cutter. And readers of all ages will be moved by Peck's bond with animals; his restrained description of putting down his beloved blind dog is, well, literature. Hazel Rochman
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Reading level: Ages 12 and up
  
• Mass Market Paperback: 224 pages
• Publisher: Laurel Leaf (January 9, 2007)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0375828028
• ISBN-13: 978-0375828027
• Product Dimensions: 4.2 x 0.6 x 6.8 inches
• Shipping Weight: 8 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (2 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,611,097 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

4 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars An interesting and personal retrospective of an accomplished author and well-loved cowboy, June 28, 2005

By 

Teenreads.com (New York, NY) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Weeds in Bloom: Autobiography of an Ordinary Man (Hardcover)

"MY BOOK IS YOUR AMERICA. An album of my old friends and your new ones. Real citizens you deserve to greet, and know, and possibly remember. You shall know me by the people I have known."

With over sixty-five books published, including the highly acclaimed novel A DAY NO PIGS WOULD DIE and a series of Soup books that won him the prestigious Mark Twain Award, Robert Newton Peck is a well-seasoned author with an established readership. His books have explored a variety of subjects from his boyhood experiences in rural Vermont to tales about making ends meet while growing up on a farm, as a cattle rancher, or as a solider during the French and Indian War. WEEDS IN BLOOM, Peck's latest literary endeavor, is a simple yet enjoyable autobiography that unfolds as a series of sketches of various people who have influenced his life over the past seventy years.

True to his word, WEEDS IN BLOOM has no plot. Instead, each chapter focuses on a character who fits respectively into one of three periods in Peck's life: his "Vermont Boyhood," his "Early Manhood," and the "Florida Years." Although some readers may miss the safety that accompanies a linear story line, others will feel less bogged down by the lack of a traditional arc, and will delight in using their own imaginations to continue where Peck has left off in each tiny vignette. It is as if he has knowingly created 25 beginnings to 25 possible stories, and by reading through them, his readers are given access to the essence of his life by getting to know the people he has encountered along the way.

In Part I: Vermont Boyhood, Peck explores his childhood in all its rugged, wide-eyed glory. Here, we bear witness to his life at home with his family, complete with all the trappings of a carefree adolescence: practicing baseball in the sweltering summer heat, playing in the dirt until dusk, and learning life-long lessons from his elders. Two of the most memorable chapters in the book are in this first section --- "Miss Kelly," when Robert writes his first poem and shares it with his teacher, Miss Kelly (who proves to be a lasting inspiration for Peck), and "Keepsake," when he and his best friend Luther sneak into a truck stop bathroom to buy their first condom at the age of ten. (A humorous side note: Peck actually kept this same condom with him until well after his return from the Army, when he promptly buried the torn and ratty thing in the backyard as a tribute to his boyhood.)

Part II: Early Manhood charts Peck's life in the army and the years immediately following his return. In "Dear Elliot," we meet a dear friend and fellow soldier who touched the lives of those around him by simply sharing his care packages from home. Unfortunately, he was killed in battle, but not before altering Peck's life for the better. In "Saw" and "Paper," Peck tells of his grueling yet enlightening experiences in the saw and paper mills, and in "Dr. Granberry" we are introduced to a football scout for small colleges that would change Peck's life forever by pushing him to go to college and providing him with a scholarship.

Part III: The Florida Years covers the last third of Peck's life up to the present. For the most part, these stories take place in Florida and bear the fruit of his past journeys. As most storytellers are apt to do when looking back on their lives, he sounds wiser and well-worn in these passages, and the people (and animals) we meet in this section are weathered as well. The last entry entitled "Just as I Am" is a delightful list of thirty-three tried-and-true beliefs and expressions that he has stumbled across and stuck to throughout his life, the last of which being: "Wish not for apples. Grow strong trees."

All in all an interesting and personal retrospective of an accomplished author and well-loved cowboy, WEEDS IN BLOOM will surely satisfy young adult readers, particularly those fond of autobiographies and nonfiction.

--- Reviewed by Alexis Burling

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Surprise Read!, July 18, 2008

By 

Cozy Co-Pilot Girl "Cozy Girl" (Kentucky) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Weeds in Bloom: Autobiography of an Ordinary Man (Hardcover)

This is not your ordinary autobiography. It is a fabulous read. I wish the book were longer, containing more of Rob's life adventures. Thoughtful book that I think you too will enjoy!