Monday, June 14, 2010

Coop (Not "co-op", though he's probably got one...)


I confess: I lurk.

No, I'm not just conjugating. I really do lurk. I have a lot of blogs saved into my "favourites" column that I spin through everyday, and leave nary a comment. Usually (and this is the confession part), I drive past these blogs like a rubbernecker driving past a crash site - horrified fascination. There are lives out there that appall me but I just can't stop peeking in to see what the train-wreck consists of today. I don't leave a comment, because what on earth do you say when someone lives oblivious to the fact that they're continuously shooting themselves in the foot/feet/groin/insert-body-part-here?

Sometimes my fascination is less macabre, and more just relief that I don't have to live like that. I found this book reviewed on one of those sites. A quiverfull site. Are you familiar? "Quiverfull Families" take the viewpoint that couples should have as many children as "God sends", without restricting fertility in any way, natural or otherwise. A lot of those sites spend a great deal of time proselytizing regarding their pro-pregancy stance, but they also tend to be folks who garden and raise chickens, and live frugally, and write about that sort of thing too. And for that, I lurk meaningfully.

This book was reviewed on a quiverfull blog. The blogstress was rather disappointed in the author's lack of True Faith, but she conceded that his agrarian lifestyle was admirable, and the book was well-written. It is.

I loved this book. Funny, real, honest. I don't want to do a review per se, but if you're looking for something to read, you'd be doing yourself a favour with this one.

10 comments:

eyemkmootoo said...

I have never heard of this before. From now on, I'm telling people that I'm on a mission from God and that my "Quiverfull" family is not the result of accidents and poor planning?

Jim said...

Dear mum,

Because I'm the proprietor of one of those blogs I suspect that you lurk about (sometimes in dismayed amusement, I'm sure), and, upon your strong & valued recommendation, I will check out this read.
;~)

Madcap said...

K'moo! Long time no see! There you go, now you have your schtick all set out and ready to use.

Jim, believe me, I've NEVER commented on the blogs in question, and you just don't write very often any more for me to comment about! None of "those" blogs are listed in the Cloud of Witnesses. But I do think you'll like the book. I've ordered another one of his from the library, and I'm hoping to enjoy that one just as much.

Jim said...

PS

It's out of print, found a used copy on eBay for 9 bucks, free shipping...
;~)

Madcap said...

I'm astonished! It just came out in paperback this year!

But I got my copy from the library anyway. Maybe your system would have one?

Jim said...

There's another book, available at Amazon.com by the same author, titled, 'Coop: A Family, A Farm, and the Pursuit of One Good Egg', which was published in February of this year.

But it has a different cover too, and I wanted to read the one you recommended so I searched eBay and found one.

Madcap said...

I think it's the same book, just a new title for the new paperback edition. Oh well, doesn't matter. Enjoy!

Anonymous said...

I love it that you're a self-proclaimed lurker! I lurk sometimes too, but I have yet to find website that are weird or macabre :).

CG said...

It is just as important to know what and how you do NOT want to be (and why) as to know what you do want to be. A few bad examples are priceless, and humor-full. There is nothing better than a good cringe. Of course, I cringe at least one that you still comment on!

Madcap said...

Juliana - I think you haven't been cruising in the right neighbourhoods if you haven't found anything macabre or weird! Of course, weird is in the eye of the bereader, I guess. Maybe we're really weird and just haven't figured it out yet.

CG - Well, I suppose that could be, and I'm not going to ask which one. But then, I'm taking for granted that you cringe at ME from time to time, too!

And yes, I like the occasional black-and-white example of how I DEFINITELY don't want to live. Makes it easier on my brain than having to sift through everything to sort the wheat and the chaff all the time.

Or, in my case, the rice and the chaff....