Brush Cat: On Trees, the Wood Economy, and the Most Dangerous Job in America

by Jack McEnany

A Year in the Woods

Brush Cat recounts a year in the life of men who perform one of the most dangerous jobs in America—logging New England’s vast forests for timber used in hundreds more ways than most of us realize, from houses to furniture to paper to electricity. In the spirit of John McPhee and Tracy Kidder, we meet an unforgettable cast of characters; feel their pain and exultation, and come to realize the centrality of wood in all of our lives.

While they are first and foremost loggers cutting down trees, they are also ardent and effective conservationists who depend on healthy, intact forests for their long-term survival. True, some loggers are wood pirates, but most are pragmatic environmentalists, always asking the How do we keep this crop alive and thriving forever?

The narrative moves deftly from useful tips on how not to lose body parts to a chain saw, through the terror of huge trees that fall the wrong way, to inconsistent and wrong-headed government forest management. It explores the worldwide demand for wood and wood chips, as well as the effect of climate change on the forest, and traces the money that keeps it all moving. Brush Cat clears the branches to reveal a hidden and fascinating world.

Genres: Nonfiction

240 pages, Hardcover

First published March 17, 2009

Reviews

[Jim · Rating 2 out of 5]

I had a lot of hope for this book, but it was barely OK, uneven & not particularly insightful. The title is misleading. There isn't all that much about trees or the wood economy except in random spurts that don't really paint a good picture of the overall issues. Yes, it's a dangerous job. The economy & regulation are making it tough for independent loggers. I got that early on in the book & knew it before I started reading. Where's the beef? (If you don't get that, google Wendy's ads on Youtube, youngster.)

It certainly does NOT 'recount a year in the life of men who perform one of the most dangerous jobs in America' as the description says, but we do get some random glimpses into their lives. There wasn't a single day actually described, though. While we get a page long description of one type of felling cut, no others were described at all. I got the feeling it was the only one he witnessed or knew anything about. Doubtless untrue, but if I didn't know some & have them to compare, it would have been pointless. We never followed a single log from tree to mill, even though we started to work our way into a wood lot once - then veered off into chatter. Those not familiar with a logging operation would only be getting bare glimpses - snapshots that don't add up to a cohesive whole.

Far too much of the book was about the author & I'm not impressed. I wouldn't get along with him very well, but Logger Bob & I are probably kindred spirits. Jack was far too self-depreciating to make his spotty narrative convincing, even though he launches into numbers with a vengeance at times. In more than a few cases, his facts were glaringly incomplete which puzzled me until I got to the end & took a look at the bibliography. There I found some amazing holes. How could anyone write an entire book like this & not use any of the resources of the Forest Product Labs or the National Forest Service? It's mind boggling.

With regret, I can't recommend this book. There just isn't enough solid information on any of the subjects it is supposed to be about.

[Melissa · Rating 3 out of 5]

Ever wonder what it would be like to be a logger in the North? So do I, however, I don't think I know anymore about what it's like to be an actual logger, just what the journalist's experience was.

McEnany moved North and immediately became fascinated with the logging industry. He tried to make friends with the locals and got himself invited out as free labor a few times. He covers some of the figures, some of the equipment, and mostly the people in this book.

Some of them are characters. He profiles a few of the loggers, the actor Rusty Dewees, and birlers. Although the loggers and their activities take up the majority of the book. He also talks a lot about his experiences personally. I think the loggers were the most interesting, especially the one that did yoga!

I would have liked more actual logging figures. There wer quite a few already but but I found them very interesting. More so than his personal foibles with chainsaws. The stories made this more memoir than non-fiction general. I'm also not sure where the term brush cat came from. I think the author made it up as all I could find was an equipment part named that. I think a more known name for loggers would have been appropriate.

A decent book but not as in depth on the logging industry as I expected. Less memoir and more facts would have made it great.

Brush Cat
Copyright 2009
226 pages

Review by M. Reynard 2014

More of my reviews can be found at www.ifithaswords.blogspot.com

[Meredith · Rating 3 out of 5]

Three and half stars. This is an interesting read about independent loggers and the logging industry in the Northeast. McEnany wears his bias on his sleeve when describing the logging townies he befriended in an anti-hero light. Despite environmental objections to deforestation, it feels natural to root for the independent logger who has suffered at the hands of coporatization and conglomeration of work like so many independent small businesses. It is clear that this type of work, when done alone or in teams of two, requires enormous skill and precision. This in contrast to mechanized tree fellers that blindly clear cut timber lots ---the method of large scale logging operations that are putting localized loggers out of business.
Beyond framing logging as a David vs. Goliath industry (spoiler; Goliath is winning!), McEnany explores the future utility of wood (a renewable energy source more productive than ethanol), the hazardous nature of wood harvesting, the wood economy (the globalization of wood sourcing and processing), selective/responsible tree culling (perhaps a reality and not an oxymoron) and other deviant uses of wood..two words: Wood Flour. It's what's for dinner.

[Ice · Rating 3 out of 5]

Brush Cat recounts a year in the life of men who perform one of the most dangerous jobs in America—logging New England’s vast forests for timber used in hundreds more ways than most of us realize, from houses to furniture to paper to electricity. In the spirit of John McPhee and Tracy Kidder, we meet an unforgettable cast of characters; feel their pain and exultation, and come to realize the centrality of wood in all of our lives.

While they are first and foremost loggers cutting down trees, they are also ardent and effective conservationists who depend on healthy, intact forests for their long-term survival. True, some loggers are wood pirates, but most are pragmatic environmentalists, always asking the question: How do we keep this crop alive and thriving forever?

The narrative moves deftly from useful tips on how not to lose body parts to a chain saw, through the terror of huge trees that fall the wrong way, to inconsistent and wrong-headed government forest management. It explores the worldwide demand for wood and wood chips, as well as the effect of climate change on the forest, and traces the money that keeps it all moving.

[Cade · Rating 3 out of 5]

Three and a half stars. It was actually really interesting, but then I enjoy oddball nonfic. I learned a lot of random info about logging in the northeast that I likely would never have otherwise known, and that's always cool.

Honestly, what kept it from 4 stars for me came down to 2 things:
1) I was entirely unimpressed with his history. Not that it wasn't correct--I just thought it should be more extensive.
2) And less important were the first pages of the chapters. Each one was done in a gray scale image of a tree, as in the rings. Pretty, but not so good for someone who suffers from constant eye strain anyway.

Good book, but I'm kind of glad I picked it up for a dollar.

[Tristan · Rating 5 out of 5]

A delightful book that owes more to Izaak Walton than to John McPhee, though it deserves comparison with McPhee as well. McEnany gives a compelling sense of an upstate New Hampshire culture that is as remote and unknown as the more typically romantic American West. Most interesting of all is the author’s distinctive and winning prose. He’s a real writer.

[Du · Rating 3 out of 5]

A quirky Sunday read. I'm not sure I learned anything, but I was entertained and know some of the places mentioned, so that is always fun. Section on Berlin was very integrating and overall the book was worth the read.

[Odoublegood · Rating 2 out of 5]

a lot about the economy of forests and wood lots; focuses on the eastern boreal ecology; some apocrypha here and a lot of "a guy and his chainsaw stuff" but certain worth reading

[Abigail (Abbe) · Rating 4 out of 5]

a cool history of the people and place in which i am working right now. a fun and realistic look at the fate of the logging industry from an independent contractor/logger's view. very cool.

[Carl Phillips · Rating 2 out of 5]

A good look at logging and forest management (or mismanagement)in the northeast. Interesting but too many other good books out there.

[J. · Rating 3 out of 5]

just okay