The last Barbara Kingsolver books I read were back in high school, for my English classes: Poisonwood Bible, The Bean Trees. I remember when Animal, Vegetable, Miracle first came out last year—I did a double take and kind of thought Kingsolver might just be jumping on the whole food writing bandwagon (I had recently finished reading Michael Pollan’s The Omnivore’s Dilemma at the time). But Animal is definitely not in the same vein at Pollan’s books in that it’s more of a personal narrative rather than a manifesto about eating locally/sustainably. It does echo a lot of the same themes, but when I was finished reading Animal, I found myself musing more about whether I too might be suited to a rural life of gardening/farming, like the Kingsolvers discovered they were over the course of the book. The other strong theme in Animal is the idea of eating food in season: Kingsolver teaches the reader about what fruits and vegetables belong to each season by demonstration (writing about what’s in their garden), rather than by lecture, which makes the topic accessible.
Kingsolver’s college-aged daughter Camille also contributes several short essays accompanied by recipes, which adds a refreshing young perspective and voice to the overall book.
