How to Walk a Pig : And Other Lessons in Country Living

Relates the experiences of two former hippies, their young children, and the family's collection of domestic animals as they become accustomed to farm life

It has long been the fantasy of many city dwellers to chuck the rat race and live on a farm and eat off the land. And that's exactly what the author, a freelance writer, his wife, a clinical psychologist, their son and their cat did when they moved to a farm in upstate New York. But it quickly became apparent that the days of milk and honey would not arrive automatically. We soon learn, with the Coffmans, the difference between Indian Summer and Squaw Winter (about a million cluster flies); the secret of walking a pig (tie a rope around its hind leg); the fun of animals such as pet dog Star (who steals a defrosting chicken); and the sadness of a cow's death after calving, or the slaughtering of a pig. There's the struggle and satisfaction of planting a garden and the joy of digging a pond where the family can skinny-dip in summer and ice-skate in winter. With the birth of a daughter, we see the children's growing love of animals (from cats to chicks) and what happens when a brew of baby hamsters escape their cages. Bemused, informative and breezy, this book will give a nudge to those who only dream of escaping the urban life. Illustrations not seen by PW.
Copyright 1995 Reed Business Information, Inc.

In 1972 Coffman and his wife left graduate school and life in urban Michigan to move to a rundown, 129-acre farm in western New York. During the next two decades, they raised a family there and shared their lives with a wonderful array of farm animals, wildlife, pets, and pests. Coffman's delightful account of their adventures with these animals is by turns amusing, exuberant, and poignant. Among his gallery of characters are an obnoxious cardinal who spends his days attacking his image in the kitchen window; the pig Ahog, who needs to be walked home from a neighbor's farm; and an assortment of homely, forlorn beasts who appear on their doorstep and stay to join the household. The surprises, heartaches, and joys that all these creatures bring to the Coffman family are told with alacrity and humor. Sure to be enjoyed by animal lovers and country-living enthusiasts.?Ilse Heidmann Ali, Kyle Community Lib., Tex.
Copyright 1995 Reed Business Information, Inc.