[.ca] French Dirt: The Story of a Garden in the South of France (ISBN 1565123522)

From Amazon.com:
A few years back, escaping the sound and fury of New York, Richard Goodman moved to a small southern French farming town he calls by the alias St. Sebastian de Caisson, everything about which "suggests the uneventful, and the eternal." There Goodman found a tiny plot of streamside land and set about raising a copious vegetable garden, about as uneventful an event as a seasoned New Yorker is likely to experience. He writes lovingly of tilling the soil and watching his lettuce, tomatoes, and leeks spring from the ground, but at heart his book is about the generous people he met during his stay and what they have to say about life on the land. Armchair travelers, gardeners, and small-scale farmers alike will enjoy his charming memoir.

french dirt:
i read the customer reviews for this book and thought i was in for a real treat. 4 stars , 5 stars--what in the world were these people reading. the book was boring, silly and a pretty much waste of time. one review, which much to my chagrin, blasted the book for what it is, was not available before i made my purchase. this guy goes to the south of france -why? he's bored with the big city? makes a few friends and grows his first ever veggie garden. so what!!! the book has no point. forget about it!!!!

Warm reflections on an agrarian interlude:
"French Lessons" is a warm memoir of the author's year long sojourn in a rural village in Southern France. Unlike the recollections of other foreign visitors who have written of their experiences in France, Goodman gives scant attention to the region's food or wine. Goodman's tale is primarily spiritual -- the satisfaction he derives from communing with nature as a gardener, and his persistent efforts to gain acceptance and approval from this close knit, closed community of French farmers. The book is reminiscent of Chris Stewart's "Driving Over Lemons" in the latter respect. Goodman's passion about his gardening experiences does become a bit cloying, and is somewhat saccarine, with almost forced profundity. A passage where he describes getting emotional over cutting bamboo, for example, definitely makes your teeth hurt. Although I derive a considerable amount of satisfaction from gardening myself, I found Goodman's anecdotes somewhat breathless and gushing, particularly his striving to "measure up" in the eyes of a helpful, friendly, apparently very strong 20 year old named Jules. This is a pleasant book; however, I expected more, in light of the potential. "French Dirt" is mostly a recollection of Goodman's spiritual journey devoting himself to a garden one summer.

Help Yourself to Richard's Garden:
This delightful short novel explores the author (an American) and his girlfriend's endeavors to cultivate friends and fruit in the south of France. I found myself walking alongside Richard as he introduced himself to his first real friend, Monsier Vasquez, as he binged on plant buying, as he picked his first vegetable. His description of the prank in which one of the least likely villagers placed perfect red, ripe tomatoes in his garden in early June was hilarious. For anyone wanting to experience living in a small French village this book vividly plants you there!

French Dirt:
Very insightful into France. An undiscovered classic. Monsieur Patten obviously has no understanding of France.

A delightful read!:
Richard Goodman's year in France produced more than a beautiful garden, it also produced a wonderful book! Needing a break from the hustle and bustle of New York, Goodman and his girlfriend Iggy rent a house in a tiny village in France for a whole year to just get away. Wanting to connect with this town and its' people, Goodman offers his help to those who will take it. In doing so, he comes in close contact with the land itself which leads him to decide he will grow his own garden. What follows is this man's love affair with the people, the land and the simple act of creating and nurturing life in his small plot of earth. Wonderfully told in beautiful prose, Goodman's story will leave you feeling happy and content and, oddly enough, wanting to grow your own garden although perhaps in your own backyard.