Courtesy of Danielle Langloism, Wikipedia CCL“Goat Song”
Brad Kessler’s “Goat Song” — a seasonal life, a short history of herding, and the art of making cheese — is a great read for goat people and those who dream of becoming goat people.
Kessler won the 2007 Dayton Literary Peace Prize for his novel, “Birds in Fall,” and the rich lyricism found there meanders over into this latest book.
“Goat Song” describes the rudiments of tending and raising goats, baling hay and making cheese from the 17 goats Kessler and his wife, photographer Dona Ann McAdams, have in Vermont. The 75 acres is a licensed dairy operation and the couple sells their chevre to a few of New York’s top restaurants.
Kessler writes of the ancient literary tradition linked to pastoralism, which is actually society’s oldest profession. And he writes lovingly of the transcendent calm that comes from walking with goats, the first animal to be domesticated, and creatures as warm and social as dogs:
“Wind rakes the trees. Clouds float shadows through the grass. We enter the woods and the goats eat ash, birch and maple. This evening, I’ll milk the does back in the barn and when the sun goes down I’ll make an aged cheese from their milk called a tomme. Months from now when snow covers the mountains, I’ll open that tomme and find this day again inside its rind: the aromatic grass, the leaves, this wind.”
Click here to listen to an interview with Kessler on National Public Radio.
Read Salon.com’s interview with Kessler here.
[...] is in the midst of reading “Goat Song: A Seasonal Life, A Short History of Herding, and the Art of Making Cheese” by Brad Kessler, who recounts that goats have been the subjects of many legends and stories, always [...]