Sheepish

April 4, 2011
In this follow-up to her first memoir, Hit by a Farm, Friend details the challenges of balancing a writing career with sheep farming in southeastern Minnesota, where she lives with her partner, Melissa. As she ponders the content and meaning of her life, Friend regales readers with funny and fascinating tales of daily life on a farm, from the humor and peril unique to sheep shearing to viewing death as "part of the job." Tidbits on sheep in history and literature add color; for example, the author argues that sheepherding is actually the oldest profession and points out the animals' presence in our language, via expressions like "fleeced" and "dyed in the wool." Her voice is wry and funny; she's self-deprecating and thoughtful, and strikes a balance between teasing and kindness, whether her subject is pregnant sheep, yarn-loving "fiber freaks," or spirituality and nature.

May 15, 2011

What is the common thread between road rage, Elvis and socks?

The answer: wool, writes Friend (The Compassionate Carnivore, 2009, etc.) in this memoir about raising sheep with her partner. The story begins with an anecdote about a man who, during a visit to the author's farm to purchase beef, became riveted by a sign that read, "Warning Electric Fence." It's the perfect extended metaphor for Friend's adventures on the farm—that caution often gives way to curiosity, demonstrated soon after as the man reached out and was shocked. Like her customer, the author has been intrigued by adventures into unknown territory. In her latest installment of life on the farm, the author focuses on the middles, the times not often celebrated, ruminating on being both mid-career and middle-aged. The author's humility is engaging, and she is well aware that sheep farming isn't the broadest of interests: "If people are relying on me to show them the way, they're in big trouble...basically because I've begun turning to memoirs myself in search of direction and encouragement." But she's quite wise, as well, offering several insights into what humans can learn from sheep. Friend ably weaves together comical stories, strands of self-help, historical and environmental facts.

Like sheep themselves, the author's account often wanders outside the confines of the pasture and into the readers' hearts.

(COPYRIGHT (2011) KIRKUS REVIEWS/NIELSEN BUSINESS MEDIA, INC. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.)

April 15, 2011
Friend (Hit by a Farm, 2006) continues to chronicle the ups and downs of sheep farming in this charming look at midlife crises, wool gathering, and life in the (very) slow lane. In a series of essays on everything from the birthing season to Farmville, Friends sense of humor is front and center as she writes about life in the middle. She is in the middle of her relationship with longtime partner Melissa, in the middle of farm ownership, and, as presented by the onset of hot flashes, in the middle of her own life. This inspires both deep thinking and hilarity. Friend recoils from the messier aspects of farm life and finds herself drawn instead to the world of fiber arts, where wool has a value both financial and aesthetic. As provocative as her reflections are, it is Friends acerbic wit that keeps the reader turning pages. A perfect choice for book groups, this is a look at the road not taken with a guide who pokes as much fun at herself as she does at the world around her.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2011, American Library Association.)