Customer Reviews

The Writer in the Garden

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I had previously read many of the books, articles, news columns etc. excerpted in Jane Garmey's book "The Writer in the Garden" but I read them again because most are very well written. Now, I'll hand the book over to my daughter who has recently taken an interest in gardening. She's approaching 40 and one of the writers in this book suggests 40 is the fateful age when gardening takes on new meaning.

If you haven't read many "garden" books and are looking for a place to begin, try this book. There are about 10,000 garden books on the market, many of them not worth a dime, but Garmey has included excerpts from some of the masters: Henry Mitchell, Anne Raver, Beverly Nichols, Vita Sackville West, Elizabeth Lawrence, Allen Lacy, Katherine White, Joe Eck and Wayne Winterrowd. All these excellent gardeners have years of hands-on experience, as well as a talent for distilling years of experience into some fine "yarns."

I discovered a new writer whose book of poetry I intend to read--W. S. Merwin. He describes his gardening efforts in Hawaii. I lived there once, and recall taking a dead stick and using it as a stake to prop a plant. The "dead" stick came to life. An idiot could garden in Hawaii. However, Mr. Merwin is trying to do something different. He's planting native flora in his hillside garden where fools once tried to grow sugar. His writing is so lucid and beautiful I felt transported to a garden I left over 30 years ago. His essay, "The Shape of Water" is worth the price of the book.

Ms Garmey has included other writers I don't think of as garden writers. Mary Francis Kennedy Fisher, whose autobiographical writings focus more on food than where it came from writes about roses in a childhood garden. Since she grew up in Whittier California, you can bet those roses were superb.

Several of the writers were boring or fretful and I am put off by both traits. I don't care for articles that give me so much detail I fall asleep, but not enough detail to help me. I also am tired of writers who complain. Anyone who gardens knows it's hard work. On the other hand, sometimes the complaints were hilarious. Eleanor Perenyi does seem to have had a run of bad luck with her gardeners.

Before you invest in other gardening books, you might review the material in this little book. You will discover first hand why not all "garden" writers are created equal--or even if they are, may not appeal to you. This is a book of essays with little immediate practical information for beginners. Still, one never knows...

The Writer in the Garden, edited cleverly by Jane Garmey, is a terrific little book. It is an attractive book too, the cover is pleasing, the type good, the actual materials of the book itself are well-made, pleasing to hold in your hand.
This book would appeal the most to two sorts of folks I'd think. One, those who are die-hard gardeners, who just love to garden, who actually do garden. And two, the book would appeal to those who appreciate extra fine writing. I noticed long ago that for some reason, some of the very finest writing I see in non-fiction is about fishing, boxing, and gardening. Somehow these topics appeal to many who write especially well. This book is packed with work from the best in the field.
The Writer in the Garden is thought provoking, exploring why we garden, why we care so passionately about it. I am a garden writer myself (Allergy-free Gardening, Safe Sex in the Garden, etc.) and I think that all garden writers themselves would do well to read this book, to see how the masters write, to elevate our own prose.
This is a top notch book with much to recommend it. I expect too it would make a beautiful present for that person who already has everything he or she needs, and who loves to garden and read.

Winter is in full swing here in New York and Connecticut and I've barely noticed. The excerpts and essays keep me from my work and even from the catalogues that have begun to pour in and which usually occupy my time. What is especially wonderful is that this is a book to which I keep returning. I am inspired and ready for the season. As far as I'm concerned, Vita Sackville-West finally has a rival!

One of the best things about any book of essays is that you can go directly to the ones that interest you the most without feeling you've missed the flow. While reading this book, I first went directly to my favorite garden writers: Beverley Nichols and Christopher Lloyd. I always laugh out loud when I read their work. Then I went back and read various other essays until I'd read them all. One of my favorites was a writer I didn't know: Anne Raver. Her essay, My Invisible Garden, was charming and funny. When I read her bio at the end of the book (a nice feature) I saw that she has written for the New York Times. Ah, that explains the quality of her writing.
The second best thing about a book of essays, is that you can dip into it again and again. Which is just what I'm going to do now ....