A hotshot entertainment editor (at Variety
and later People
) chucks corner offices in New York and L.A. and phone calls from Warren Beatty to burn brush and butcher pigs in Maine and lives to tell about it. City slicker–in-the-woods has been done before, as Alexander readily admits, but it's done here with honesty, charm and a good dose of self-deprecation. In short essays originally published in the Portland Phoenix
, Alexander tells how, in the late 1990s, he moved to Maine with his family to get away from "the frayed excess" of city life; he ended up, as the local plumber put it, in "a real shit sandwich" of a house on 150 semiwooded acres. While Alexander continues freelance writing, he also dedicates himself to becoming a small-time farmer. Not surprisingly, the local residents—hardworking, taciturn and thrifty ("When folks in my town heard that a teaspoonful of anthrax could wipe out the whole state, they appreciated its frugality")—are the heroes of the book, teaching Alexander what he needs to know. Alexander, in turn, does his part by running for selectman, which reinforces his "sense of place." This is a wise, enjoyable chronicle of the search for a meaningful life: "to both fight and surrender in the same moment. It's as good a recipe as any for living well." Agent, Stacey Glick
. (Nov.)
