The The Last of the Husbandmen: A Novel of Farming Life - Softcover

Logsdon, Gene

Softcover

ISBN 10: 082141786X ISBN 13: 9780821417867

Publisher: Ohio University Press, 2008

Synopsis

“Nan turned to see Ben’s face turn as hard and white as a sauerkraut crock. When he did not respond, Nan figured that he was just going to back off as he usually did, the shy and retiring husbandman. She did not know her history. She did not know that shy and retiring husbandmen have been known to revolt against oppression with pitchforks drawn.”

—The Last of the Husbandmen
In The Last of the Husbandmen, Gene Logsdon looks to his own roots in Ohio farming life to depict the personal triumphs and tragedies, clashes and compromises, and abiding human character of American farming families and communities. From the Great Depression, when farmers tilled the fields with plow horses, to the corporate farms and government subsidy programs of the present, this novel presents the complex transformation of a livelihood and of a way of life.
Two friends, one rich by local standards, and the other of more modest means, grow to manhood in a lifelong contest of will and character. In response to many of the same circumstances—war, love, moonshining, the Klan, weather, the economy—their different approaches and solutions to dealing with their situations put them at odds with each other, but we are left with a deeper understanding of the world that they have inherited and have chosen.
Part morality play and part personal recollection, The Last of the Husbandmen is both a lighthearted look at the past and a profound statement about the present state of farming life. It is also a novel that captures the spirit of those who have chosen to work the land they love.

About this title

Review:

“In The Last of the Husbandmen―as in everything Gene Logsdon writes ― wit is the nurse crop to wisdom. With a conclusion as comical as it is hopeful, this latest book is equal parts entertainment and enlightenment―just what we’ve come to expect from Mr. Logsdon.”
― Michael Perry, author of Truck: A Love Story

“Gene Logsdon remains as true–to–form in his fiction as he does in his non–fiction.... this book was maybe as valuable a read as any of his books, not for the instruction, but for scope and perspective on a life lived ‘tied down’ to a place.”
― The Englewood Review of Books

“One finds humor, hijinx aplenty, and even romance, but it would be a mistake to overlook the serious implications of The Last of the Husbandmen. Aptly subtitled A Novel of Farming Life, the novel at times reads like a narrative of American agriculture in the decades following World War II.”
― Rich Tomsu, Rich Gardens Organic Farm

“The Last of the Husbandmen proves quite entertaining, especially for anyone who has ever spent much time on a farm.... (Logsdon) covers many of the issues so important to Ohio farmers during that period, including the consolidation of rural school districts, the competition for shrinking agricultural land, inheritance taxes, overproduction, and even organic agriculture, while never losing the human element in the story.”
― Mansfield News Journal

“Logsdon writes about contemporary farming issues with quaint elegance, good humor and rich detail in this novel set in the rustic village of Gowler, Ohio.... A few lively subplots ... help to propel Logsdon's narrative about a disappearing way of life.”
― Publishers Weekly

“The Last of the Husbandmen reads like a parable. Emmet is the grasshopper, fiddling with crazy schemes that lead to disaster. Ben is the ant, steady and industrious, storing away the fruit of his labors to keep him happy and warm all winter.... This uplifting book had a few surprises.... Logsdon pulls out all the stops for a drunken funeral that would do Lake Wobegon proud.”
― Dayton Daily News

“The characters in Gene Logsdon’s The Last of the Husbandmen hear a song the modern ear cannot hear. Yes, this fascinating story suggests, you must listen closely, but maybe, just maybe, the music will play on.”
― Steve Zender, publisher, The Progressor Times

From the Author:

Gene Logsdon lives and raises sheep in north–central Ohio with his wife, Carol. He has written twenty–five books, most recently a novel, The Lords of Folly; a cultural study, The Mother of All Art: Agrarianism and the Artistic Impulse; three memoirs: You Can Go Home Again, The Contrary Farmer, and The Pond Lover; and a book on experimental ideas in farming, All Flesh Is Grass. Gene blogs at OrganicToBe.org.

About this edition

• Publisher: Ohio University Press
• Publication date: 2008
• ISBN 10: 082141786X
• ISBN 13: 9780821417867
• Binding: Paperback
• Edition number: 1
• Number of pages: 334