Friday, September 21, 2012

And Cat's Sheep!

Also just out: Cat Urbigkit's Shepherds of Coyote Rocks, her first adult book, a distillation and amplification of what you have come to love here and a leap forward for her.

This is the most nuanced and intelligent defense of the traditional pastoral life in print, by a writer who lives it and has heard all the dug- in uninformed arguments. I don't need to tell readers here about her; suffice to say she can work, and observe, and read, and think, and WRITE. I spent a few days on the ground with her and Jim last fall, and we killed a bottle at their trailer house; I heard more political complexity, diversity, and spirited debate and discussion in one night there than in a week in Jackson Hole, not to mention hearing many scientific papers on early domestication and the evolution of our commensals quoted by self- described "redneck" Jim!

I assume readers of this blog will love it; if they need a quote to pique the curiosity of others, try just this one, in defense of transhumance pastoralism: "As satellite images clearly revealed, both socialism and privatization are associated with worse long term outcomes than those observed in traditional group- based governance."

Many more like that, and stories, and characters, and Cat's photos!

7 comments:

Jenny Glen said...

I LOVE this book! I bought it on the first day it was out.

Unknown said...

Just bought it! Thanks for the heads up--can't wait to see it.

Cat Urbigkit said...

Thanks all!

Unknown said...

Book came from Amazon today, fabulous, fabulous! Everyone, go buy it!

Cat Urbigkit said...

Thanks so much to those of you who are enjoying the book - it means a lot to me. One more favor though: please consider writing a short review on Amazon if you would. Even a sentence would work. (So far we don't have any reader reviews posted.) Thanks again!

Anonymous said...

MY copy is ordered! Once it gets here, and once I've read it, then I'll havta do another Amazon review--thanks to the "Querencia" influence, I'm becoming quite the Amazonian critic! Although Ray Coppinger is probably NOT amused.....L.B.

Cat Urbigkit said...

I'll look forward to your take on it Lane!