Best Person Rural

August 1, 2006
Perrin's 2004 death deeply grieved the thousands who escaped from urban routine by reading his " First Person Rural" (1980)" " and the three subsequent " Person Rural " collections of essays in which this sometime farmer celebrates rural life. In this posthumous collection, one of Perrin's longtime friends, Terry Osborne, brings together many of the best essays from his four " Person Rural" collections and adds a handful of previously unpublished essays. Osborne has selected several pieces that memorably convey Perrin's keen pleasure in rural labor--fencing pastures, making maple syrup, cutting down trees, and splitting firewood. A number of other essays sketch out a philosophical perspective on the cultural meaning of rural life, reminding readers (for instance) that the inefficiency of a Vermont hay farmer reflects a wise recognition of natural limits. Yet other essays confront large-scale political issues affecting rural life--including the right of farmers to protect their way of life by resorting to ecosabotage. A cross-grained and piquant personality, Perrin has left readers with a wonderful legacy of regionally rooted writing. (Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2006, American Library Association.)