First Person Rural

by Noel Perrin, Stephen Harvard (Illustrator)

These essays, all concerned with countryish things, range from intensely practical to mildly literary. Transplanted from New York fifteen years ago and now a real-life Vermont farmer, Noel Perrin candidly admits to hilarious early mistakes (“In Search of the Perfect Fence Post”) while presenting down-to-earth advice on such rural necessities as “Sugaring on $15 a Year,” “Raising Sheep,” and “Making Butter in the Kitchen.”
But, as everyone who has read his essays in The New Yorker , Country Journal , and Vermont Life will confirm, not everything Perrin writes is strictly about the exigencies of country life. While one essay seems to discuss the use of wooden sap buckets, it really addresses the nature of illusion and reality as they coexist in rural places.

Genres: Nonfiction, Essays, Memoir, Humor, Agriculture

144 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1978

About the author

Noel Perrin was a professor of English literature, an essayist for the Washington Post, a hobbyist farmer, and a Korean War veteran.

Reviews

[Steven · Rating 5 out of 5]

Some of these essays (and some from the sequels) I have read perhaps 20 times or more. Wonderful writing!

[Jay · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book definitely straddled the line between peaceful and boring but i did enjoy it

[Mrs. Bun · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is a book that appealed to me because of the author's descriptions of farm life - joys and trials. Noel Perrin was a Dartmouth professor who also wrote for The New Yorker and Vermont Life. He moved to Vermont from New York City and took on becoming a farmer in a small town. What he learned and how he learned it became the substance of his essays. There is a wry humor touching most of his writings. This first book was published in 1978 and it is interesting to read his observations and thoughts about the future as well.

[Ashley · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was recommended to me after I read Verlyn Klinkenborg's The Rural Life. I enjoyed these essays; they were funny, pithy, and each had a definite focus and angle. Perrin has an obvious love and appreciation of his Vermont farming town and the way of life there, though somehow the essays often lacked depth or soul. But since it was a fun, quick read with a lot of interesting observations, I'll probably pick up the others at some point.

[Lola · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is a book you can pick up at any time to continue reading.
It's about farming and country living.
Each chapter is on a different subject ranging from raising sheep to making maple syrup.
Very pleasant reading, especially, I think, if you've ever been on a farm or wish you had been.

[Natalie · Rating 5 out of 5]

Kept me smiling. Learned some things about how to buy chainsaws and build fences. Quaint little book. Author taught at Dartmouth so it all feels familiar, including his mention of the Dartmouth crew boats on the Connecticut and Dan & Whits.

[Bird Berdnick · Rating 4 out of 5]

Great reminder of pleasure from the simpler things in life.

[John Galluzzo · Rating 5 out of 5]

Perrin wrote with such a fun style. The whole concept - a New Yorker moving to upstate Vermont and starting a farm - is fun to begin with. But the self-appointed authority with which he spoke on so many topics makes this book a somewhat tongue-in-cheek celebration. He puts himself out there. He lives in Vermont, but he knows from whence he truly came.

He was cheap. And I mean that in the best, thrifty New Englander sort of way. He spends much of the book complaining about the cost of everything, or, at least, putting those costs in perspective for us all (keeping in mind some of the essays in this collection date back more than 50 years now and that costs then and costs now are very different). His thriftiness in this book foreshadows others in the series.

He speaks with authority about fenceposts, purchasing, raising and slaughtering sheep, buying the right chainsaw and much more. I think my favorite essay has to do with animal voices around the world. In his pre-internet days he consulted bilingual dictionaries and sent letters to farmers around the world to determine what a cow said in French and what it said in Chinese (these probably haven't changed in 50 years). He approaches the simple question like it's a scientific experiment, presenting his findings like a college professor...which, technically, he was.

Most importantly, we do learn as we go. We learn about the maple sugaring business and about the hidden lies of covered bridges. We learn about the scale with which Vermont farmers operate and the push and pull of "last-stand" methods versus modernization, and what they both mean to tourism.

What we learn most is that Perrin was a master at his craft.

[Serra · Rating 4 out of 5]

Overall, great collection of essays. Some of the chapters are a little too "how-to" and in-depth for non-farmers to enjoy - I found myself dozing while reading about the cost and horsepower of every pick-up truck on the market - but the more anecdotal pieces provide a charming, sometimes humorous, look into Perrin's rural life.

[Tim · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.5 stars

Much more interesting than I thought it'd be, definitely due to the author's mild cynicism and snark. There were a couple essays I definitely felt were incredibly dry, like how to buy a truck or a chainsaw. The maple syrup chapters were super interesting, as I grew up around all that and it seems not much has changed between the 70s and today as far as that goes.

[April · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book was a gift from my mother, and it's clear why she liked it! I found it very enjoyable to read. His listed prices are out of date of course, but a lot of the concepts he wrote about seem just as relevant today.

[Abbie · Rating 4 out of 5]

3.5 stars. I picked this up for 50 cents at a library sale, and it was a nice light read. As another review stated, it straddles the line between clever and boring, as it's not quite as clever in places as intended. As a farmer in SW MO, the taste of Vermont was a nice expedition from home.

[Yycdaisy · Rating 3 out of 5]

Most of these articles were written in the 1970s so are a bit dated in places. The historical ones are still of interest.

[Karen · Rating 4 out of 5]

Pleasant, informative read. I now have a much better understanding about maple syrup making - and an appreciation of how pricing works!

[Barbara T. · Rating 3 out of 5]

Relaxing diary of a Dartmouth professor and the difficulties of being a small farmer (wood, fenceposts, what kind of truck to get).

[Cameron Kunzelman · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book is good.

[Jessica · Rating 3 out of 5]

The subtitle of this book is "Essays of a Sometime Farmer" but it seems to me that Perrin has done enough work to call himself a full-time farmer.

Perrin's writing is somewhat inconsistent but the essays are overall enjoyable. Particularly the aspects of maple sugaring and his "recipe" for making maple candy worked like a charm.

Perrin talks a bit of prices and pricing in these essays and while they are obviously outdated, most of the thoughts are not - the final essay (basically city vs. country) is the best example of this - many of the pros and cons of city life and country life still exist (although it would be foolish to assume technology hasn't improved on at least a few of the country "cons.")

I didn't really think reading about fence posts or building fences would be interesting but the injection of humor - plus personal experience actually trying to complete these projects - made them quite enjoyable as well as somewhat educational.

Perrin has deterred me from wanting to live in Vermont (although it wasn't high on my list anyway) but my farm dreams remain alive and well.

[Christine · Rating 2 out of 5]

Perrin's collection of essays discuss life in Vermont from the perspective of someone who used to live in New York City. While the essays were at times fun to read and highlight how much Vermont has changed and silmultaneously stayed the same, they were a bit dated (I think this was first published in 1978?). Chris Bohjalian (he used to live in Brooklyn before he moved to VT) has published a collection of weekly newspaper columns that he writes for the Burlingotn Free Press. Titled Idyll Banter, this collection of lessons a NYC transplant to VT learns are much more current and, I think, funnier.

[Melissa · Rating 3 out of 5]

The author has a sense of humor as he tells of his own failures and hard times, plus remarks on what various animals "say" in languages across the world. I especially liked the chapter about maple syrup, because our family had just been doing something very similar with our own syrup production. Some articles are mostly just informative, such as how to buy a good chainsaw or pick-up truck--I read them more from duty than pleasure, though no doubt most men would find them interesting. There were also 5 or 6 swear words, sadly. Overall a neat book for those starting out in farming.

[Godine Publisher & Black Sparrow Press · Rating 5 out of 5]

"A cross between Scott Nearing and E.B. White, with a little James Harriot thrown in."
— Chicago Sun-Times

"You have to admire how Perrin lets the language break down into little fragments, hard stones left by a receding glacier. It isn't easy to talk about the soul, and New Englanders have as hard a time as anyone. Perrin's writing mirrors that difficulty, that ingrained reticence."
— Alex Hanson, The Valley News

[Mark · Rating 5 out of 5]

A wonderful, quick read. The book is divided into many short chapters, covering different aspects of rural life in Vermont. The only part of the book that I didn't enjoy was a short section about raising sheep and preparing them for slaughter. That being said, it's true to lifestyle this book discusses, and is certainly a worthy inclusion. All in all, this can serve as an instruction manual for flatlanders looking to make the jump.

[Karen GoatKeeper · Rating 4 out of 5]

The author lives in Vermont so the topics reflect life in Vermont. It is a series of short topics, all rural.
Ever wonder about the grades of maple syrup? How syrup is made? What it's like to produce syrup as a small producer?
What do you need to live in the country? Perrin recommends a truck and a chainsaw.
The topics are interesting. The comments are interesting and often fun. This is a very readable book about country living even if you don't live in Vermont.

[Beverly · Rating 5 out of 5]

First in a series of essays on life in Rural New England by a Dartmouth writing professer and "sometime farmer."

Essays include how-tos for making butter, maple sugar, purchasing a pickup truck and a chainsaw.
Interesting insights on human nature, the environment, small farming vs big agribusiness, gentrification.

[Nzinga · Rating 2 out of 5]

I enjoyed the chapter about making maple candy and drinking raw milk, but the rest of them were pretty slow. Ultimately, I only think I finished it because it so short and it seemed like a shame not to.

[Katherine Pershey · Rating 4 out of 5]

Great book. I liked some essays more than others (I won't be buying a chainsaw or a truck anytime soon, so the "how-to" chapters weren't so interesting), but overall, this is a fantastic book. Anyone who liked Animal, Vegetable, Miracle, etc., would enjoy.

[Stephen · Rating 3 out of 5]

A calm read. A lot of information on fencing in acreage and maple syruping. Some insights on raising livestock. Amusing and Perrin is a good writer, but as a collection of essays from the same time period, the book is sometimes repetitive.

[Mike · Rating 3 out of 5]

A stitch in time saves nine. Quality is the running theme of this book.
Here is some typical advice from the author. Shoot the lamb in the head and immediately afterwards cut its throat. The artery is what you're after. If this sounds brutal, horrible and ghoulish don't even consider trying it.

[Nikki · Rating 3 out of 5]

Vermonter's should read this!

[Carolyn · Rating 4 out of 5]

Going the audiobook route this time. Great for listening as we work up the day's garden produce.

Sometimes dated, often New England-centric but generally timeless country life stories.

[Joshua]

If you want to learn a bit about maple syrup, the essays on that topic are pretty interesting. Otherwise, skip this book--I didn't find it particularly interesting.