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This Life Is In Your Hands: One Dream, Sixty Acres, And A Family Undone (2011)

by Melissa Coleman(Favorite Author)

3.7 of 5 Votes: 4

ISBN

0061958328 (ISBN13: 9780061958328)

languge

English

genre

Memoir & Autobiography

publisher

Harper

review 1: I loved this book. It's a memoir of a childhood spent in one of the 1970s self-sufficiency households. Although the nature and the ecology is beautiful and sounds fantastic for a kid, the woman's story shows how these things are of secondary importance to compassion, relationships and family. It's a fascinating insight into what it's like to live 'off the land', and takes some of the glamour away. But it's very sad really, to read the disintegration of a family, and how environmental and political ideals fall so short of producing a happy home life. It is beautifully written and has a great depth of insight.
review 2: I'm a longtime organic gardener and a bit back-to-the-landish (with electricity and plumbing:-) so naturally this book caught my eye. I find it i... morenteresting how the agricultural fears of the 60-70s were well-founded and have come to fruition now 40 years later. I think Coleman's coverage of the food politics and homesteading movement of the times is good. She also does a good job portraying her unusual upbringing and how she fit in with the world outside her own, namely her grandparents' and schoolmates'.What I found distracting through the whole book is her portrayal of other people. The book is a memoir, so she speaks in first person. Yet she puts herself into the minds of other people and speaks their thoughts for them. Doing so seems especially conjecture-ish when she writes about feelings and events that happened before she was born or when she was only 3-4 years old. Obviously, she interviewed people for her story, and because her story is non-fiction I think I would have felt better had she written in a more source-accrediting style.Overall a fascinating story, historically interesting and a a good read. less

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