When Alice Walker grew up in the deep south of America, her family always kept chickens - for meat and for eggs - and her job was to chase down the Sunday dinner! In later life, when she settled in Mexico and was growing her own food, she realised how much she missed keeping them and decided to get a brood of her own. So into her life came Gertrude Stein, Babe, Babe 2, Hortensia, Splendor, Glorious, Rufus and Agnes of God, not to mention a few others. She discovered a deep contentment in keeping chickens, looking after them and watching them develop. This also made her think about her own life and brought back severed memories of her childhood. This book isn't a 'how to' on keeping chickens, it is a warm memoir chronicling her journey and the way in which keeping chickens led her to a fuller understanding of herself.
"That is when you realize how powerful Walker is, how she draws you through trauma into an Eternity, a chicken house on her peaceful bit of land in Northern California, next to her garden, where she sits on a green metal stool and watches her chickens. It's a book-long spell--hypnotic."
--"Los Angeles Times"
"With an eye for wonderment and plenty of surprisingly wry humor, author Alice Walker shakes up fans with a memoir that's nothing like her novels. Instead, "The Chicken Chronicles" is a series of enchanted musings on Walker's life and charitable works, the richly-imagined life of her pets, and a powerful sense of gratitude for friends, the Earth, and its gifts. I flew through this book, loving every page of it. For pet lovers, chicken people, or anyone who craves a perfectly charming memoir, here's one to read. "The Chicken Chronicles" is worth bringing home to roost."
--Terri Schlichenmeyer, "Life After 50"
"Walker invites her readers into her personal spaces t
Title: The chicken chronicles
Subtitle: a memoir
Contributors:
By (author)
Alice Walker
ISBN 13: 9781780220062
ISBN 10: 1780220065
Publisher: Orion Publishing Co
Imprint: Phoenix (an Imprint of The Orion Publishing Group Ltd )
Publication Date: 12/06/2012
Place of Publication:
London,
United Kingdom
Edition:
BIC Subjects:
Biography & autobiography
;
Birds, including cage birds
NBS Classification: Natural History: Animal & Wildlife
Dewey Classification:
813.54
(DC23)
;
636.50092
(DC22)
Format: Paperback
Pages: 240
Height: 198mm
Width: 129mm
Thickness: 15mm
Weight: 202g