In a Pickle: A Family Farm Story [Paperback]

Jerry Apps (Author)

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Product Details

Paperback: 256 pages
Publisher: University of Wisconsin Press; 1 edition (May 13 2008)
Language: English
ISBN-10: 0299223043
ISBN-13: 978-0299223045
Product Dimensions: 22.8 x 16 x 1.6 cm
Shipping Weight: 363 g

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Product Description

From Booklist

*Starred Review* Apps, a veteran Wisconsin author of rural fiction and nonfiction, proves once again just how charming he can be. Set in 1955, this warmhearted novel tells the story of 25-year-old Andy Meyer, a veteran of the Korean War, who has returned home to Link Lake, where he works on his father's farm and, during the summer cucumber season, manages the H. H. Harlow Pickle Company's factory. Life in Link Lake has gone on pretty much the same for generations, but big changes are afoot: Harlow is encouraging local cucumber farmers to plant bigger fields, to use more modern equipment, and to enter into exclusive contracts with the company. When spot-rot hits a local cucumber farm and spreads to other, smaller patches, farmers are suddenly unable to sell their cukes; families whose heads are barely above water are in danger of sinking; and Andy finds not only his livelihood, but also his very way of life in jeopardy. This is one of those slice-of-life novels that utterly wins us over with rich characters, homespun dialogue, and a story that, although it takes place half a century ago, involves a subject that's still current: the elimination of small farms by big agribusiness. Apps, who was born on a farm and who managed a pickle factory in the 1950s, invests the novel with the kind of realism, precise detail, and local color that only someone who had lived the story could do. Pitt, David --This text refers to the Hardcover edition.

Review

“In a Pickle is a many-layered pleasure delivered by a master craftsman who is also, like Studs Terkel and Howard Zinn, a passionate student of the people’s history. As Apps engages us in the coming-of-age saga of the pickle factory manager Andy Meyer, this is at once a lesson in rural Wisconsin sociology, a quietly scathing indictment of factory farming, and a great read.”—John Galligan, author of The Nail Knot and The Blood Knot

“In a Pickle tells this poignant story of change, family, and heartache in a nostalgic, yet unforgettable way.”—Oscar Mireles, editor of I Didn’t Know There Were Latinos in Wisconsin

“In 1955, life on the nation’s traditional small family farms was on a collision course with industrialization and technology. Small cheese factories were closing, combines were replacing the threshing crew, and workhorses were put out to pasture. It also meant that farm families were facing the traumas of the future. Jerry Apps chronicles this dilemma of change through the lives of central Wisconsin farmers who existed by the sweat of their brows and the muscles in their arms. . . . In a Pickle is a story you’ll read with relish and remember forever.”—John Oncken, syndicated agriculture columnist and radio commentator

--This text refers to the Hardcover edition.

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Most Helpful Customer Reviews on Amazon.com ^(beta)

Amazon.com: 4.7 out of 5 stars (6 customer reviews)

8 of 8 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars IN A PICKLE captures the heart of rural America half-a-century ago!, Nov 21 2007

By Jim Pope - Published on Amazon.com

This review is from: In a Pickle: A Family Farm Story (Hardcover)

Novels are typically not on my 'to read' shelf. But I picked this one up because Apps' non-fiction has always been so much fun and chocked full of right-on memories for me. IN A PICKLE is about the time when I grew up and about a place only half-a-county from where my family's farm was. This book is right up there as one of Apps' best, and it superbly captures the essence of the culture and the times. It tells an engaging story in a down-home and straightforward style that shows why Apps should be on everybody's list of really good storytellers.

The book is a character-driven tale that's not only a fun read, but it will give you an effective insight into what small-farm life was really like half-a-century ago in middle America. After the first couple of chapters of IN A PICKLE, I found it to be one of those few books that is so enjoyable that I forcibly (and with difficulty) limited myself to just a chapter or two a day - that way I knew I would get to enjoy it for a lot longer. The book has several layers to it: 1) an enjoyable novel about the relationships of a cast of characters trying to get through tough times together, 2) a chronicle of small farm families documenting some of the everyday realities of that life fifty years ago, 3) a commentary on how progress in the big picture of things can impact the lives of the individual people being swept through those changes, and 4) a depiction of how the modernization of technology can be a good thing, but how, whether it intends to or not, and for better or for worse, it can significantly disrupt the traditional order of things and much of what goes with that tradition. Those aspects can all be enjoyed on their own merits with IN A PICKLE. But the book also gives the reader a combined experience of all those things fitting together in one place and one period of the American landscape, an indispensable part of our country's character.

If you're old enough, IN A PICKLE will jog your memory about the old days and tickle your funny bone at the same time. If you're younger than that, the book takes you back in time to a part of your parents' world, and it does that in an entertaining way that leaves you appreciating some new things about that world your folks grew up in. In either case, you're apt to see some things in a way that you maybe hadn't considered before - until Jerry Apps let you know about it with IN A PICKLE.

4 of 4 people found the following review helpful

4.0 out of 5 stars Support your local farmer, April 7 2008

By Patricia Kramer - Published on Amazon.com

This review is from: In a Pickle: A Family Farm Story (Hardcover)

Jerry Apps zeroes in on the importance of the small family farm in the community and the challenges that are facing the farmers and their families. I enjoyed getting drawn into the story of the pickle factory and its importance as a source of income and gathering place. You will look at pickles differently after reading this book. I live in Wisconsin but never knew about the role small cucumber patches played in the life of the farm areas. Buy local, support the family farmers and help them creatively survive the challenge of agribusiness.

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars A nice break!, Mar 8 2008

By Jos M. Hohmann - Published on Amazon.com

This review is from: In a Pickle: A Family Farm Story (Hardcover)

No need to repeat Jim Pope's comments. I like books like these as a nice "break" from the "murder & mayhem" novels I usually read. Very nice and informative book, indeed. I'll be looking for more of Jerry Apps' works.

› Go to Amazon.com to see all 6 reviews 4.7 out of 5 stars