"ANIMAL, VEGETABLE, MIRACLE, A Year of Food Life" by Barbara Kingsolver, available at Watermark Book Company and other independent book sellers, is everything I had hoped it would be. Kingsolver is such a fine writer that, fiction or non-fiction, she makes you eager to hear more of the story. I just bought it the other day, and I'm hooked.

Here's a quote from early in the book:

"In Nikos Kazantzakis's novel Zorba the Greek, the pallid narrator frets a lot about his weaknesses of the flesh. He lies awake at night worrying about the infinite varieties of lust that call to him from this world; for example, cherries. He's way too fond of cherries. Zorba tells him, well then, I'm afraid what you must do is stand under the tree, collect a big bowl full, and stuff yourself. Eat cherries like they're going out of season.

"This was approximately the basis of our plan: the Zorba diet."

As Kingsolver's family prepares for a year of eating locally and seasonally, she talks about asparagus in a way that makes me wonder why we don't worship it. She praises Slow Food International for working to protect heritage species of edible plants and animals. Her husband and daughter write fascinating and informed sidebars to the text. I'm learning, and agreeing, and I have most of the book yet to enjoy.

Thank you Barbara Kingsolver for spreading the word to your enormous audience in such a readable, and informative, way. What a perfect friend of Slow Food.

A review by Carol Havens

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